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THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES

GIFT

From the Library of

Henry Goldman, Ph.D.

1886-1972

•p^

&

MY DARK COMPANIONS

HE STEALTHILY APPROACHED FROM TREE TO TREE.

See p. 51.

MY DARK COMPANIONS

THEIR STRANGE STORIES

HENRY M. STANLEY, D.C.L., Etc.

AUTHOR OF " IN DARKEST AFRICA," " HOW I FOUND LIVINGSTONE,
ETC., ETC.

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS

NEW YORK

CHAELES SCRTBNEK'S SONS

1906

COPTRISHT, 1893, BT

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

\H

Annex

CONTENTS

PAGE

The Creation of Man 4

The Goat, the Lion, and the Serpent . . 29

The Queen op the Pool 41

The Elephant and the Lion 60

Kino Gumbi and his Lost Daughter 75

The Story op Maranda 92

The Story of Kitinda and her wise Dog .... 98

The Story of the Prince who insisted on Possessing

the Moon 105

how klmyera became klng op uganda . . . .120

The Legend op the Leopardess and her two Servants,

Dog and Jackal 153

A Second Version op the Leopard and the Dog Story . 178

The Legend of the Cunning Terrapin and the Crane . 188

The Legend op Kibatti the Little, who Conquered all

the Great Animals 210

The Partnership of Rabbit and Elephant, and what

came op it 232

The Adventures op Saruti 247

viii CONTENTS

PAGE

The Boy Kinneneh and the Gorilla 265

The City op the Elephants . 282

The SEARcn for the Home op the Sun .... 299

A Hospitable Gorilla 310

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

" He stealthily approached prom Tree to Tree " Frontispiece

"O Moon, list to thy Creature Bateta ! " ... 12

" Then he lifted his Voice, and cried out aloud up-
ward" 17

" The Moon came down to the Earth . . . and bore

them to himself " 24

"Serpent, wake up; Lion is raging for a Fight with

you" 33

" Fixed his Fangs in the right Eyebrow of Lion " . .35

" Conveyed it to the Village " 39

" Munu, the Pride of Izoka, was killed" . . . .54

"The Sentence was executed without Loss of Time" . 58

" ' Well ! what do you want?' he asked" ... 65

" Drove one of his Tusks through his Adversary's

Body" 68

"How did all this happen?" 71

" 'Deliver it to me,' answered the Parrot" ... 78

"Sent her away down the River" 81

" Miami was ill and weak and sat at the Door " . .85

" Swam down opposite the Village " 95

x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

"He turned, and ran into the Woods" .... 103

" The Women kneaded the Bread " 112

" In the Night floated down the Aruwimi "... 114

" Converted into Monkeys " 117

klmyera setting out for uganda 133

klmyera asking for water 137

klmyera claiming the throne of ganda .... 147

"Dog . . . set up a piteous Howl" "... 165

"dog fled like the wlnd " 170

"Came pouring from their Houses with Dreadful

Weapons" 176

" Leopard saw one Place which he could leap over" . 181

" Soko performed his Part expeditiously "... 201

" ' Hold hard, Terrapin ! ' " 205

"Poor Miss Crane was fast asleep" 208

"Brother Leopard will hold me and mine gudltless,"

etc 215

"It is I, Kibatti the Little, from Unyoro" . . . 226

Killing King Rhinoceros 230

"i am proud to have met you, rabbit " .... 238

" A powerful Crowd behind the Cow " 240

" Fled away as fast as their Legs would carry them" 243

" rutuana laid his stick across his chest " . . . 250

"Tried to jump up after the Leopard" • 255

"Felt his Nose seized" . mi

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi

PAGE

He lifted the Woman anp her Basket and trotted away 269

"He would roar in Fury, and race about the Village" 279

Dudu and his Wife meet a young Lion .... 285

dudu and salimba introduced to klng elephant . . 291

"The Village was entirely burned" .... 301

" None of those who were high up on the Mountain Side

were left alive " 307

The Father of the Gordllas addressing his Kinsmen . 315

MY DARK COMPANIONS

The nightly custom of gathering around the
camp fire, and entertaining one another with stories,
began in 1875, after Sabadu, a page of King
Mtesa, had astonished his hearers with the legend
of the " Blameless Priest."

Our circle was free to all, and was frequently-
well attended ; for when it was seen that the more
accomplished narrators were suitably rewarded,
and that there was a great deal of amusement
to be derived, few could resist the temptation to
approach and listen, unless fatigue or illness
prevented them.

Many of the stories related were naturally of
little value, having neither novelty nor originality ;
and in many cases, especially where the Zanzi-
baris were the narrators, the stories were mere
importations from Asia ; while others, again, were
mere masks of low inclinations. I therefore had
often to sit out a lengthy tale which had not a
single point in it.

But whenever a real aborigine of the interior
undertook to tell a tale of the old days, we were

MY DARK COMPANIONS

sure to hear something new and striking ; the lan-
guage became more quaint, and in almost every
tale there was a distinct moral.

The following legends are the choicest and most
curious of those that were related to me during
seventeen years, and which have not been hitherto
published in any of my books of travel. Faithfully
as I have endeavoured to follow the unsophisti-
cated narrators it is impossible for me to repro-
duce the simplicity of style with which they were
given, or to describe the action which accom-
panied them. I take my cue from the African
native. He told them with the view of pleasing
his native audience, after much solicitation. He
was unused to the art of public speaking, and never
dreamed that he was exposing himself to criti-
cism. He was also shy, and somewhat indolent, or
tired perhaps, and would prefer listening to others
rather than speak himself, but though protest-
ing strongly that his memory was defective, and
that he could not remember anything, he yielded
at last for the sake of peace, and good-fellowship.
As these few, now about to be published, are not
wholly devoid of a certain merit as examples of
Central African lore, and oral literature, I have
thought it best to consider myself only as a
translator and to render them into English with
as direct and true a version as possible.

I begin with the Creation of Man merely for

INTRODUCTION

preference, and not according to the date on
which it was related. The legend was delivered
by Matageza, a native of the Basoko,* in Decem-
ber, 1883. He had been an assiduous attendant
at our nightly circle, but hitherto had not opened
his mouth. Finally, as the silence at the camp
fire was getting somewhat awkward, Baruti, one
of my tent-boys, was pressed to say something ;
but he drew back, saying that he never was able
to remember a thing that was told to him, but,
added he, "Matageza is clever; I have heard him
tell a long legend about the making of the first
man by the moon."

All eyes were at once turned upon Matageza,
who was toasting his feet by a little fire of his
own, and there was a chorus of cries for " Mata-
geza ! Matageza ! " He aft'ected great reluctance
to come forward, but the men, whose curiosity
was aroused, would not take a denial, and some
of them seized him, and dragged him with loud
laughter to the seat of honour. After a good
deal of urging and a promise of a fine cloth if the
story was good, he cleared his throat and began
the strange legend of the Creation of Man as
follows : —

* The Basoko are a tribe occupying the right bank of the Aruwimi
river from its confluence with the Congo to within a short distance of
the rapids of Yanibuya, and inland for a few marches.

THE CREATION OF MAN*

—^ ^ W n

the old, old time,
all this land, and
indeed all the whole
earth was covered
with sweet water.
But the water dried
up or disappeared
somewhere, and the
grasses, herbs, and
plants began to
spring up above the
ground, and some grew, in the course of many
moons, into trees, great and small, and the water
was confined into streams and rivers, pools
and lakes, and as the rain fell it kept the
streams and rivers running, and the * pools and
lakes always fresh. There was no living thing
moving upon the earth, until one day there sat
by one of the pools a large Toad. How long he
had lived, or how he came to exist, is not known ;
it is suspected, however, that the water brought
him forth out of some virtue that was in it. In
the sky there was only the Moon glowing and

* Republished through the courtesy of the Editor and Proprietors
of the " Fortnightly Review."

The creation of man

shining — on the earth there was but this one Toad.
It is said that they met and conversed together,
and that one day the Moon said to him :

" I have an idea. I propose to make a man and
a woman to live on the fruits of the earth, for I
believe that there is rich abundance of food on it
fit for such creatures."

" Nay," said the Toad, " let me make them, for
I can make them fitter for the use of the earth
than thou canst, for I belong to the earth, while
thou belongest to the sky."

" Verily," replied the Moon, " thou hast the
power to create creatures which shall have but a
brief existence ; but if I make them, they will have
something of my own nature ; and it is a pity that
the creatures of one's own making should suffer and
die. Therefore, O Toad, I propose to reserve the
power of creation for myself, that the creatures may
be endowed with perfection and enduring life."

" Ah, Moon, be not envious of the power which
I share with thee, but let me have my way. I will
give them forms such as I have often dreamed of.
The thought is big within me, and I insist upon
realising my ideas."

" An thou be so resolved, observe my words,
both thou and they shall die. Thou f shall slay
myself and end utterly ; and thy creatures can but
follow thee, being of such frail material as thou
canst give them."

MY DARK COMPANIONS

" Ah, thou art angry now, but I heed thee not.
I am resolved that the creatures to inhabit this
earth shall be of my own creating. Attend thou
to thine own empire in the sky."

Then the Moon rose and soared upward, where
with his big, shining face he shone upon all the
world.

The Toad grew great with his conception, until
it ripened and issued out in the shape of twin
beings, full-grown male and female. These were
the first like our kind that ever trod the earth.

The Moon beheld the event with rage, and left
his place in the sky to punish the Toad, who had
infringed the privilege that he had thought to
reserve for himself. He came direct to Toad's pool,
and stood blazingly bright over it.

" Miserable," he cried, " what hast thou done ? "

" Patience, Moon, I but exercised my right and
power. It was within me to do it, and lo, the
deed is done."

" Thou hast exalted thyself to be my equal in
thine own esteem. Thy conceit has clouded thy
wit, and obscured the memory of the warning I
gave thee. Even hadst thou obtained a charter
from me to attempt the task, thou couldst have
done no better than thou hast done. As much as
thou art inferior to me, so these will be inferior to
those I could have endowed this earth with. Thy
creatures are pitiful things, mere animals without

THE CREATION OF MAN

sense, without the gift of perception or self-
protection. They see, they breathe, they exist ;
their lives can be measured by one round journey
of mine. Were it not out of pity for them, I would
even let them die. Therefore for pity's sake I
propose to improve somewhat on what thou hast
done : their lives shall be lengthened, and such
intelligence as malformed beings as these can
contain will I endow them with, that they may
have guidance through a life which with all my
power must be troubled and sore. But as for thee,
whilst thou exist my rage is perilous to them,
therefore to save thy kin I end thee."

Saying which the Moon advanced upon Toad,
and the fierce sparks from His burning face were
shot forth, and fell upon the Toad until he was
consumed.

The Moon then bathed in the pool, that the heat
of his ancjer might be moderated, and the water
became so heated that it was like that which is in
a pot over a fire, and he stayed in it until the
hissing and bubbling had subsided.

Then the Moon rose out of the pool, and sought
the creatures of Toad: and when he had found
them, he called them unto him, but they were
afraid and hid themselves.

At this sight the Moon smiled, as you sometimes
see him on fine nights, when he is a clear white,
and free from stain or blurr, and he was pleased

8 MY DARK COMPANIONS

that Toad's creatures were afraid of him. " Pool-
things," said he, " Toad has left me much to do yet
before I can make them fit to be the first of earthly
creatures." Saying which he took hold of them,
and bore them to the pool wherein he had bathed,
and which had been the home of Toad. He held
them in the water for some time, tenderly bathing
them, and stroking them here and there as a pot-
ter does to his earthenware, until he had moulded
them into something similar to the shape we men
and women possess now. The male became dis-
tinguished by breadth of shoulder, depth of chest,
larger bones, and more substantial form ; the female
was slighter in chest, slimmer of waist, and the
breadth and fulness of the woman was midmost of
the body at the hips. Then the Moon gave them
names ; the man he called Bateta, the woman
Hanna, and he addressed them and said :

" Bateta, see this earth and the trees, and herbs
and plants and grasses ; the whole is for thee and
thy wife Hanna, and for thy children whom Hanna
thy wife shall bear unto thee. I have re-made
thee greatly, that thou and thine may enjoy such
things as thou mayest find needful and fit. In
order that thou mayest discover what things are
not noxious but beneficial for thee, I have placed
the faculty of discernment within thy head, which
thou must exercise before thou canst become wise.
The more thou prove this, the more wilt thou be

THE CREATION OF MAN

able to perceive the abundance of good things
the earth possesses for the creatures which are to
inhabit it. I have made thee and thy wife as per-
fect as is necessary for the preservation and enjoy-
ment of the term of life, which by nature of the
materials the Toad made thee of must needs be
short. It is in thy power to prolong or shorten it.
Some things I must teach thee. I give thee first
an axe. I make a fire for thee, which thou must
feed from time to time with wood, and the first
and most necessary utensil for daily use. Observe
me while I make it for thee."

The Moon took some dark clay by the pool and
mixed it with water, then kneaded it, and twisted
it around until its shape was round and hollowed
within, and he covered it with the embers of the
fire, and baked it; and when it was ready he
handed it to them.

" This vessel," continued the Moon, " is for the
cooking of food. Thou wilt put water into it, and
place whatsoever edible thou desirest to eat in the
water. Thou wilt then place the vessel on the
fire, which in time will boil the water and cook
the edible. All vegetables, such as roots and
bulbs, are improved in flavour and give superior
nourishment by being thus cooked. It will be-
come a serious matter for thee to know which of
all the things pleasant in appearance are also
pleasant for the palate. But shouldst thou be

10 MY DARK COMPANIONS

long in doubt and fearful of barm, ask and I will
answer thee."

Having given the man and woman their first
lesson, the Moon ascended to the sky, and from
his lofty place shone upon them, and upon all the
earth with a pleased expression, which comforted
greatly the lonely pair.

Having watched the ascending Moon until he
had reached his place in the sky, Bateta and
Hanna rose and travelled on by the beautiful
light which he gave them, until they came to a
A^ery large tree that had fallen. The thickness
of the prostrate trunk was about twice their
height. At the greater end of it there was a
hole, into which they could wTalk without bend-
ing. Feeling a desire for sleep, Bateta laid his
fire down outside near the hollowed entrance,
cut up diy fuel, and his wife piled it on the
fire, while the flames grew brighter and lit the
interior. Bateta took Hanna by the hand and
entered within the tree, and the two lay down
together. But presently both complained of the
hardness of their bed, and Bateta, after pondering
awhile, rose, and going out, plucked some fresh
large leaves of a plant that grew near the fallen
tree, and returned laden with it. He spread it
about thickly, and Hanna rolled herself on it, and
laughed gleefully as she said to Bateta that it
was soft and smooth and nice ; and opening

The creation of man n

her arms, she cried, " Come, Bateta, and rest by
my side."

Though this was the first day of their lives, the
Moon had so perfected the unfinished and poor
work of the Toad that they were both mature
man and woman. Within a month Hanna bore
twins, of whom one was male and the other female,
and they were tiny doubles of Bateta and Hanna,
which so pleased Bateta that he ministered kindly
to his wife who, through her double charge, was
prevented from doing anything else.

Thus it was that Bateta, anxious for the com-
fort of his wife, and for the nourishment of his
children, sought to find choice things, but could
find little to please the dainty taste which his
wife had contracted. Whereupon, looking up to
Moon with his hands uplifted, he cried out :

" O Moon, list to thy creature Bateta ! My
wife lies languishing, and she has a taste strange
to me which I cannot satisfy, and the children that
have been born unto us feed upon her body, and
her strength decreases fast. Come down, O Moon,
and show me what fruit or herbs will cure her
longing."

The Moon heard Bateta's voice, and coming out
from behind the cloud with a white, smiling face,
said, " It is well, Bateta ; lo ! I come to help
thee."

When the Moon had approached Bateta, he

12

MY DARK COMPANIONS

showed the golden fruit of the banana — which
was the same plant whose leaves had formed the
first bed of himself and wife.

"O MOON, LIST TO THY CREATURE BATETA ! "

" O Bateta, smell this fruit. How likest thou
its fragrance ? "

THE CREATION OF MAN 13

"It is beautiful and sweet. O Moon, if it be
as wholesome for the body as it is sweet to smell,
my wife will rejoice in it."

Then the Moon peeled the banana and offered it
to Bateta, upon which he boldly ate it, and the
flavour was so pleasant that he besought per-
mission to take one to his wife. When Hauna had
tasted it she also appeared to enjoy it ; but she
said, " Tell Moon that I need something else, for
I have no strength, and I am thinking that this
fruit will not give to me what I lose by these
children."

Bateta wTent out and prayed to Moon to listen
to Hauna's words — which wrhen he had heard,
he said, " It was known to me that this should be,
wherefore look round, Bateta, and tell me what
thou seest moving yonder."

" Why, that is a buffalo."

" Rightly named," replied Moon. " And what
follows it ? "

"A goat."

" Good agfain. And what next ? "

" An antelope.17

" Excellent, 0 Bateta ; and what may the
next be ? "

" A sheep."

"Sheep it is, truly. Now look up above the
trees, and tell me wThat thou seest soaring over
them."

14 MY DARK COMPANIONS

" I see fowls and pigeons."

" Very well called, indeed," said Moon. " These
I give unto thee for meat. The buffalo is strong
and fierce, leave him for thy leisure ; but the goat,
sheep, and fowls, shall live near thee, and shall
partake of thy bounty. There are numbers in the
woods which will come to thee when they are
filled with their grazing and their pecking. Take
any of them — either goat, sheep, or fowl — bind it,
and chop its head off with thy hatchet. The blood
will sink into the soil ; the meat underneath the
outer skin is good for food, after being boiled or
roasted over the fire. Haste now, Bateta ; it is
meat thy wife craves, and she needs naught else to
restore her strength. So prepare instantly and
eat."

The Moon floated upward, smiling and benig-
nant, and Bateta hastened to bind a goat, and
made it ready as the Moon had advised. Hanna,
after eating of the meat which was prepared by
boiling, soon recovered her strength, and the
children throve, and grew marvellously.

One morning Bateta walked out of his hollowed
house, and lo ! a change had come over the earth.
Right over the tops of the trees a great globe of
shining, dazzling light looked out from the sky,
and blazed white and bright over all. Things that
he had seen dimly before were now more clearly
revealed. By the means of the strange light hung

THE CREATION OF MAN 15

up in the sky he saw the difference between that
which the Moon gave and that new brightness
which now shone out. For, without, the trees and
their leaves seemed clad in a luminous coat of
light, while underneath it was but a dim reflection
of that which wras without, and to the sight it
seemed like the colder light of the Moon.

And in the cooler light' that prevailed below the
foliage of the trees there were gathered hosts of
new and strange creatures ; some large, others of
medium, and others of small size.

Astonished at these changes, he cried, " Come
out, O Hanna, and see the strange sights without
the dwelling, for verily I am amazed, and know
not what has happened."

Obedient, Hanna came out with the children and
stood by his side, and was equally astonished at
the brightness of the light and at the numbers of
creatures which in all manner of sizes and forms
stood in the shade ranged around them, with their
faces towards the place where they stood.

" What may this change portend, O Bateta ? "
asked his wife.

" Nay, Hanna, I know not. All this has
happened since the Moon departed from me."

" Thou must perforce call him again, Bateta, and
demand the meaning of it, else I shall fear harm
unto thee, and unto these children."

" Thou art right, my wife, for to discover

16 MY DARK COMPANIONS

the meaning of all this without other aid than
my own wits would keep us here until we per-
ished."

Then he lifted his voice, and cried out aloud
upward, and at the sound of his voice all the
creatures gathered in the shades looked upward,
and cried with their voices ; but the meaning of
their cry, though there was an infinite variety of
sound, from the round, bellowing voice of the lion
to the shrill squeak of the mouse, was :

" Come down unto us, O Moon, and explain the
meaning of this great change unto us ; for thou
only who madest us can guide our sense unto the
right understanding of it."

When they had ended their entreaty unto the
Moon, there came a voice from above, which
sounded like distant thunder, saying, " Rest ye
where ye stand, until the brightness of this new
light shall have faded, and ye distinguish my
milder light and that of the many children which
have been born unto me, when I shall come unto
you and explain."

Thereupon they rested each creature in its own
place, until the great brightness, and the warmth
which the strange light gave faded and lessened,
and it was observed that it disappeared from view
on the opposite side to that where it had first
been seen, and also immediately after at the place
of its disappearance the Moon was seen, and all

THE CREATION OF MAN 19

over the sky were visible the countless little lights
which the children of the Moon gave.

Presently, after Bateta had pointed these out to
Hanna and the children, the Moon shone out
bland, and its face was covered with gladness, and
he left the sky smiling, and floated down to the
earth, and stood not far off from Bateta, in view of
him and his family, and of all the creatures under
the shade.

" Hearken, O Bateta, and ye creatures of prey
and pasture. A little while ago, ye have seen the
beginning of the measurement of time, which shall
be divided hereafter into day and night. The time
that lapses between the Sun's rising and its setting
shall be called day, that which shall lapse between
its setting and re-rising shall be called night.
The light of the day proceeds from the Sun, but
the light of the night proceeds from me and from
my children the stars ; and as ye are all my
creatures, I have chosen that my softer light shall
shine during the restful time wherein ye sleep, to
recover the strength lost in the waking time, and
that ye shall be daily waked for the working time
by the stronger light of the Sun. This rule never-
ending shall remain.

" And whereas Bateta and his wife are the first
of creatures, to them, their families, and kind
that shall be born unto them, shall be given pre-
eminence over all creatures made, not that they are

20 MY DARK COMPANIONS

stronger, or swifter, but because to them only have
I given understanding and a gift of speech to
transmit it. Perfection and everlasting life had
also been given, but the taint of the Toad remains
in the system, and the result will be death, — death
to all living things, Bateta and Hanna excepted.
In the fulness of time, when their limbs refuse to
bear the burden of their bodies and their marrow
has become dry, my first-born shall return to me,
and I shall absorb them. Children shall be born
innumerable unto them, until families shall expand
into tribes, and from here, as from a spring, man-
kind will outflow and overspread all lands, which
are now but wild and wold, ay, even to the farthest
edge of the earth.

" And hearken, O Bateta, the beasts which thou
seest, have sprung from the ashes of the Toad. On
the day that he measured his power against mine,
and he was consumed by my fire, there was one drop
of juice left in his head. It was a life-germ which
soon grew into another toad. Though not equal in
power to the parent toad, thou seest what he has
done. Yonder beasts of prey and pasture and fowls
are his work. As fast as they were conceived by
him, and uncouth and ungainly they were, I dipped
them into Toad's Pool, and perfected them out-
wardly, according to their uses, and, as thou seest,
each specimen has its mate. Whereas, both thou
and they alike have the acrid poison of the toad,

THE CREATION OF MAN 21

thou from the parent, they in a greater measure
from the child toad, the mortal taint when ripe
will end both man and beast. No understanding
nor gift of speech has been given to them, and
they are as inferior to thyself as the child toad was
to the parent toad. Wherefore, such qualities as
thou mayst discover in them, thou mayst employ
in thy services. Meantime, let them go out each
to its own feeding-ground, lair, or covert, and grow
and multiply, until the generations descending from
thee shall have need for them. Enough for thee
with the bounties of the forest, jungle, and plain,
are the goats, sheep, and fowls. At thy leisure,
Bateta, thou mayst strike and eat such beasts as
thou seest akin in custom to these that will feed
from thy hand. The waters abound in fish that
are thine at thy need, the air swarms with birds
which are also thine, as thy understanding will
direct thee.

" Thou wilt be wise to plant all such edibles
as thou mayest discover pleasing to the palate
and agreeable to thy body, but be not rash in
assuming that all things pleasant to the eye are
grateful to thy inwards.

" So long as thou and Hanna are on the earth, I
promise thee my aid and counsel ; and what I tell
thee and thy wife thou wilt do well to teach thy
children, that the memory of useful things be not
forgotten — for after I take thee to myself, I come

22 M Y DARK COMPANIONS

no more to visit man. Enter thy house now, for
it is a time, as I have told thee, for rest and sleep.
At the shining of the greater light, thou wilt
waken for active life and work, and family care
and joys. The beasts shall also wander each to
his home in the earth, on the tops of the trees,
in the bush, or in the cavern. Fare thee well,
Bateta, and have kindly care for thy wife Hanna
and the children."

The Moon ended his speech, and floated up-
ward, radiant and gracious, until he rested in his
place in the sky, and all the children of the Moon
t winkled for joy and gladness so brightly, as the
parent of the world entered his house, that all
the heavens for a short time seemed burning.
Then the Moon drew over him his cloudy cloak,
and the little children of the Moon seemed to get
drowsy, for they twinkled dimly, and then a dark-
ness fell over all the earth, and in the darkness
man and beast retired, each to his own place, ac-
cording as the Moon had directed.

A second time Bateta waked from sleep, and
walked out to wonder at the intense brightness of
the burning light that made the day. Then he
looked around him, and his eyes rested upon a
noble flock of goats and sheep, all of whom bleated
their morning welcome, while the younglings
pranced about in delight, and after curvetting
around, expressed in little bleats the joy they felt

THE CREATION OF MAN 23

at seeing their chief, Bateta. His attention was
also called to the domestic fowls ; there were red
and white and spotted cocks, and as many col-
oured hens, each with its own brood of chicks.
The hens trotted up to their master — cluck, cluck,
clucking — the tiny chicks, following each its own
mother — cheep, cheep, cheeping — while the cocks
threw out their breasts and strutted grandly be-
hind, and crowed with their trumpet throats, " All
hail, master."

Then the morning wind rose and swayed the
trees, plants, and grasses, and their tops bending
before it bowed their salutes to the new king of
the earth, and thus it was that man knew that his
reign over all was acknowledged.

A few months afterwards, another double birth
occurred, and a few months later there was still
another, and Bateta remembered the number of
months that intervened between each event, and
knew that it would be a regular custom for all
time. At the end of the eighteenth year, he per-
mitted his first-born to choose a wife, and when
his other children grew up he likewise allowed
them to select their wives. At the end of ninety
years, Hanna had born to Bateta two hundred and
forty-two children, and there were grandchildren,
and great-grandchildren, and countless great-great-
grandchildren, and they lived to an age many
times the length of the greatest age amongst us

24

MY DARK COMPANIONS

now-a-days. When they were so old that it be-
came a trouble to them to live, the Moon came

"THE MOON CAME DOWN TO THE EARTH

HIMSELF."

. AND BORE THEM TO

down to the earth as he had promised, and bore
them to himself, and soon after the first-born twins

TEE CREATION OF MAN 25

died and were buried in the earth, and after that
the deaths were many and more frequent. People
ceased to live as long as their parents had done,
for sickness, dissensions, wars, famines, accidents
ended them and cut their days short, until they at
last forgot how to live long, and cared not to think
how their days might be prolonged. And it has
happened after this manner down to us who now
live. The whole earth has become filled with
mankind, but the dead that are gone and forgotten
are far greater in number than those now alive
upon the earth.

Ye see now, my friends, what mischief the
Toad did unto all mankind. Had his conceit been
less, and had he waited a little, the good Moon
would have conceived us of a nobler kind than we
now are, and the taint of the Toad had not cursed
man. Wherefore abandon headstrong ways, and
give not way to rashness, but pay good heed to
the wise and old, lest ye taint in like manner the
people, and cause the innocent, the young, and the
weak to suffer. I have spoken my say. If ye
have heard aught displeasing, remember I but tell
the tale as it was told unto me.

" Taking it as a mere story," said Baraka, " it is
very well told, but I should like to know why the
Moon did not teach Bateta the value of manioc,
since he took the trouble to tell him about the
banana."

26 MY DARK COMPANIONS

" For the reason," answered Matageza, " that
when he showed him the banana, there was no one
but the Moon could have done so. But after the
Moon had given goats and sheep and fowls for his
companions, his own lively intelligence was suffi-
cient to teach Bateta many things. The goats
became great pets of Bateta, and used to follow
him about. He observed that there was a certain
plant to which the goats flocked with great greed,
to feed upon the tops until their bellies became
round and larsje with it. One day the idea came
to him that if the goats could feed so freely
upon it without harm, it might be also harmless
to him. Whereupon he pulled the plant up and
carried it home. While he was chopping up the
tops for the pot his pet goats tried to eat the tuber
which was the root, and he tried that also. He cut
up both leaves and root and cooked them, and after
tasting them he found them exceedingly good
and palatable, and thenceforward manioc became a
daily food to him and his family, and from them
to his children's children, and so on down to us."

" Verily, that is of great interest. Why did you
not put that in the story ?"

" Because the stoiy would then have no end. I
would have to tell you of the sweet potato, and
the tomato, of the pumpkin, of the millet that was
discovered by the fowls, and of the palm oil nut
that was discovered by the dog."

THE CREATION OF MAN 27

" Ah, yes, tell us how a dog could have shown
the uses of the palm oil nut."

"It is very simple. Bateta coaxed a dog to
live with him because he found that the dog
preferred to sit on his haunches and wait for the
bones that his family threw aside after the meal
was over, rather than hunt for himself like other
flesh-eating beasts. One day Bateta walked out
into the woods, and his dog followed him. After
a lon^ walk Bateta rested at the foot of the
straight tall tree called the palm, and there were
a great many nuts lying on the ground, which
perhaps the monkeys or the wind had thrown
down. The dog after smelling them lay down and
began to eat them, and though Bateta was afraid
he would hurt himself, he allowed him to have his
own way, and he did not see that they harmed
him at all, but that he seemed as fond as ever of
them. By thinking of this he conceived that they
would be no harm to him ; and after cooking them,
he found that their fat improved the flavour of his
vegetables, hence the custom came down to us.
Indeed, the knowledge of most things that we
know to-day as edibles came down to us through
the observation of animals by our earliest fathers.
What those of old knew not was found out later
through stress of hunger, while men were lost in
the bushy wilds."

When at last we rose to retire to our tents and

28 MY DARK COMPANIONS

huts, the greater number of our party felt the
sorrowful conviction that the Toad had imparted
to all mankind an incurable taint, and that we
poor wayfarers, in particular, were cursed with an
excess of it, in consequence of which both Toad
and tadpole were heartily abused by all.

THE GOAT. THE LION, AND THE
SERPENT

[ARUTI, which trans
lated means " snm-
powder," envied
Matageza the
" piece " of a dozen
gay handkerchiefs,
with which he had
been rewarded for
his excellent story,
and one evening while he served dinner, ventured
to tell me that he also remembered a story that
had been told to him when a child among the
Basoko.

" Very well, Baruti," I replied, " we will all meet
to-night around the camp fire as usual, and accord-
ing to the merits of your story you will surely be
rewarded. If it is better than Matageza's, you
shall have a still finer piece of cloth ; if it s not
so interesting, you cannot expect so much."

" All right, sir. Business is business, and
nothing for him that can say nothing."

Soon after the darkness had fallen the captains
of the expedition and the more intelligent men

30 MY t)ARK COMPANIONS

began to form the evening circle, and after we had
discussed the state of the night, and the events of
the day, I called out to Baruti for his story, when,
after telling us what a great time had elapsed since
he had heard it, and how by searching into the
recesses of his memory he had at last remembered
it, he delivered the story of " The Goat, the Lion,
and the Serpent," in the following manner : —

A Goat and a Lion were travelling together one
day on the outskirts of a forest, at the end of
which there was a community of mankind com-
fortably hutted within a village, which was fenced
round with tall and pointed stakes. The Goat
said to the Lion :

" Well, now, my friend, where do you come from
this day ? "

" I have come from a feast that I have given
many friends of mine — to the leopard, hyena, wolf,
jackal, wild cat, buffalo, zebra, and many more.
The long-necked giraffe and dew-lapped eland were
also there, as well as the springing antelope."

" That is grand company you keep, indeed," said
the Goat, with a sigh. " As for poor me, I am
alone. No one cares for me very much, but I find
abundance of grass and sweet leafage, and when I
am full, I seek a soft spot under a tree, and chew
my cud, dreamily and contentedly. And of other
sorrows, save an occasional pang of hunger, in my
wanderings I know of none."

THE 00 AT, THE LION, AND THE SERPENT 31

" Do you mean to say that you do not envy me
my regal dignity and strength ? "

" I do not indeed, because as yet I have been
ignorant of them."

" What ? Know you not that I am the strong-
est of all who dwell in the forest or wilderness?
that when I roar all who hear me bow down their
heads, and shrink in fear ? "

" Indeed, I do not know all this, nor am I very
sure that you are not deceiving yourself, because I
know many whose offensive powers are much more
dangerous, my friend, than yours. True, your teeth
are large, and your claws are sharp, and your roar
is loud enough, and your appearance is imposing.
Still, I know a tiny thing in these woods that is
much more to be dreaded than you are ; and I
think if you matched yourself against it in a
contest, that same tiny thing would become victor."

" Bah ! " said the Lion, impatiently, " you anger
me. Why, even to-day all who were at the feast
acknowledged that they were but feeble creatures
compared with me : and you will own that if I
but clawed you once there would be no life left in
you."

" What you say in regard to me is true enough,
and, as I said before, I do not pretend to the
possession of strength. But this tiny thing that
I know of is not likely to have been at your
feast."

32 MY DARK COMPANIONS

" What may this tiny thing be that is so
dreadful ? " asked the Lion, sneeringly.

u The Serpent," answered the Goat, chewing his
cud with an indifferent air.

" The Serpent ! " said the Lion, astounded.
" What, that crawling reptile, which feeds on mice
and sleeping birds — that soft, vine-like, creeping
thing that coils itself in tufts of grass, and branches
of bush ? "

" Yes, that is its name and character clearly."

" Why, my weight alone would tread it until it
became flat like a smashed egg.''1

" I would not try to do so if I were you. Its
fangs are sharper than your great corner teeth or
claws."

" Will you match it against my strength ? "

"Yes."*

" And if you lose, what will be the forfeit ? "

" If you survive the fight, I will be your slave,
and you may command me for any purpose you
please. But what will you give me if you lose ? "

" What you please."

" Well, then, I will take one hundred bunches
of bananas ; and you had better bring them here
alongside of me, before you begin."

': Where is this Serpent that will fight with
me ? "

" Close by. When you have brought the bana-
nas he will be here, waiting for you."

THE 00 AT, THE LION, AND THE SERPENT 33

The Lion stalked proudly away to procure the
bananas, and the Goat proceeded into the bush,
where he saw Serpent drowsily coiled in many
coils on a slender branch.

" Serpent," said the Goat, " wake up. Lion is
raging for a tight with you. He has made a bet of
a hundred bunches of bananas that he will be the

4

W«rtfl

^CT*^"^-

"serpent, wake up ; LION is raging for a fight with you.

victor, and I have pledged my life that you will
be the strong one ; and, hark you, obey my hints,
and my life is safe, and I shall be provided with
food for at least three moons."

"Well," said Serpent, languidly, " what is it
that you wish me to do ? "
*3

34 MY DARK COMPANIONS

" Take position on a bush about three cubits
high, that stands near the scene where the fight is
to take place, and when Lion is ready, raise your
crest high and boldly, and ask him to advance near
you that you may see him well, because you are
short-sighted, you know. And he, full of his con-
ceit and despising your slight form, will advance
towards you, unwitting of your mode of attack.
Then fasten your fangs in his eyebrows, and coil
yourself round his neck. If there is any virtue left
in your venom, poor Lion will lie stark before long."

" And if I do this, what will you do for me ? "

" I am thy servant and friend for all time."

"It is well," answered the Serpent. "Lead the
way."

Accordingly Goat led Serpent to the scene of
the combat, and the latter coiled itself in position,
as Goat had advised, on the leafy top of a young
bush.

Presently Lion came, with a long line of servile
animals, bearing one hundred bunches of bananas ;
and, after dismissing them, he turned to the Goat,
and said :

"Well, Goatee, where is your friend who is
stronger than I am ? I feel curious to see him."

" Are you Lion ? " asked a sibilant voice from
the top of a bush.

" Yes, I am ; and who are you that do not
know me ? "

"FIXED his fangs in the right eyebrow of lion.

THE GOAT, THE LION, AND THE SERPENT 37

" I am Serpent, friend Lion, and short of sight
and slow of movement. Advance nearer to me,
for I see yon not."

Lion uttered a loud roaring laugh, and went
confidently near the Serpent — who had raised his
crest and arched his neck — so near that his breath
seemed to blow the slender form to a tremulous
movement.

" You shake already," said Lion, mockingly.

"Yes, I shake but to strike the better, my
friend," said Serpent, as he darted forward and
fixed his fangs in the right eyebrow of Lion, and
at the same moment its body glided round the
neck of Lion, and became buried out of sight in
the copious mane.

Like the pain of fire the deadly venom was felt
quickly in the head and body. AVhen it reached
the heart, Lion fell down and lay still and dead.

" Well done," cried Goat, as he danced around
the pile of bananas. " Provisions for three moons
have I, and this doughty roarer is of no more value
than a dead goat."

Goat and Serpent then vowed friendship for one
another, after which Serpent said :

"Now follow me, and obey. I have a little
work for you."

" Work ! What work, O Serpent ? "

" It is light and agreeable. If you follow that
path, you will find a village of mankind. You will

38 MY DARK COMPANIONS

there proclaim to the people what I have done, and
show this carcase to them. In return for this they
will make much of you, and you will find abun-
dance of food in their gardens — tender leaves of
manioc and peanut, mellow bananas, and plenty of
rich greens daily. True, when you are fat and a
feast is to be made, they will kill you and eat you ;
but, for all your kind, comfort, plenty, and warm,
dry housing is more agreeable than the cold damp
jungle, and destruction by the feral beasts."

" Nay, neither the work nor the fate is grievous,
and I thank you, O Serpent ; but for you there
can be no other home than the bush and the tuft
of grass, and you will always be a dreaded enemy
of all who come near your resting-place."

Then they parted. The Goat went along the
path, and came to the gardens of a village, where
a woman was chopping fuel. Looking up she saw
a creature with grand horns coming near to her,
bleating. Her first impulse was to run away, but
seeing, as it bleated, that it was a fodder-eating
animal, with no means of offence, she plucked some
manioc greens and coaxed it to her, upon which
the Goat came and spoke to her.

" Follow me, for I have a strange thing to show
you a little distance off."

The woman, wondering that a four-footed animal
could address her in intelligible speech, followed ;
and the Goat trotted gently before her to where

THE 00 AT, THE LION, AND THE SERPENT 39

Lion lay dead. The woman upon seeing the body,

stopped and asked, " What is the meaning of this?"

The Goat answered, " This was once the king of

beasts ; the fear of him was upon all that lived in

"CONVEYED IT TO THE VILLAGE."

the woods and in the wilderness. But he too often
boasted of his might, and became too proud. I
therefore dared him to fight a tiny creature of the
bush, and lo ! the boaster was slain."
" And how do you name the victor ? "

40 MY DARK COMPANIONS

"The Serpent."

" Ah ! you say true. Serpent is king over all,
except man," answered the woman.

" You are of a wise kind," answered the Goat.
"Serpent confessed to me that man was his
superior, and sent me to you that I might become
man's creature. Henceforth man shall feed me
with greens, tender tops of plants, and house and
protect me ; but when the feast-day comes, man
shall kill me, and eat of my flesh. These are the
words of Serpent."

The woman hearkened to all Goat's words, and
retained them in her memory. Then she unrobed
the Lion of his furry spoil, and conveyed it to the
village, where she astonished her folk with all
that had happened to her. From that day to this
the goat kind has remained with the families of
man, and people are grateful to the Serpent for
his gift to them ; for had not the Serpent com-
manded it to seek their presence, the Goat had re-
mained for ever wild like the antelope, its brother.

" Well done, Baruti," cried Chowpereh. " That
is a very good story, and it is very likely to be a
true one too. Wallahi, there is some sense in
these pagans after all, and I had thought that
their heads were very woodeny." It is needless
to say that the sentiments of Chowpereh were
generally shared, and that Baruti received the
new dress he so well deserved.

THE QUEEN OF THE POOL

ASSIM was a sturdy
lad from the Basoko
country, and a chum
of Baruti. As yet
he had never related
to us a legend,
though he loved to
sit near the fire, and
listen to the tales
of the days of old.
This silence on his
part was at last remarked, and one night he was
urged by all of us to speak, because it was unfair
that those who frequented our open-air club should
be always ready to receive amusement, and yet
refuse to contribute their share to the entertain-
ment. This kind of argument pushed home,
brought him at last to admit that he owed the
party a debt in kind, and he said :

Well, friends, each man according to his nature,
though there are so many men in the world they
differ from one another as much as stones, no two
of which are exactly alike. Here is Baruti here.

42 MY DARK COMPANIONS

who never seems to tire of speech, while I find
more pleasure in watching his lips move up and
down, and his tongue pop out and in, than in using
my own. I cannot remember any legend, that is
the truth ; but I know of something which is not
fiction, that occurred in our country relating to
Izoka — a woman originally of Umane, the big
town above Basoko. Izoka, the Queen of the
Pool, as we call her, is alive now, and should you
ever pass by Uman6 again, you may ask any of
the natives if my words are true, and you will find
that they will certify to what I shall now tell you.

Izoka is the daughter of a chief of Umane whose
name is Uyimba, and her mother is called Tvvekay.
One of the young warriors called Koku lifted his
eyes towards her, and as he had a house of his
own which was empty, he thought Izoka ought to
be the one to keep his hearth warm, and be his
companion while he went fishing. The idea be-
came fixed in his mind, and he applied to her
father, and the dowry was demanded ; and, though
it was heavy, it was paid, to ease his longing after
her.

Now, Izoka was in every way fit to be a chiefs
wife. She was tall, slender, comely of person ; her
skin was like down to the touch, her kindly eyes
brimmed over with pleasantness, her teeth were
like white beads, and her ready laugh was such
that all who heard it compared it to the sweet

THE QUE EN OF THE POOL 43

sounds of a flute which the perfect player loves to
make before he begins a tune, and men's moods
became merry when she passed them in the vil-
lage. Well, she became Koku's wife, and she left
her father's house to live with her husband.

At first it seemed that they were born for one
another. Though Koku was no mean fisherman,
his wife excelled him in every way. Where one
fish came into his net, ten entered into that of
Izoka, and this great success brought him abun-
dance. His canoe returned daily loaded with fish,
and on reaching home they had as much work to
clean and cure the fish as they could manage.
Their daily catch would have supported quite a
village of people from starving. They therefore
disposed of their surplus stock by bartering it for
slaves, and goats, and fowls, hoes, carved paddles,
and swords ; and in a short time Koku became
the wealthiest among the chiefs of Umane, through
the good fortune that attended Izoka in whatever
she did.

Most men would have considered themselves
highly favoured in having such fortunate wives,
but it was not so with Koku. He became a
changed man. Prosperity proved his bane. He
went no more with Izoka to fish ; he seldom
visited the market in her company, nor the fields
where the slaves were at work, planting manioc,
or weeding the plantain rows, or clearing the

44 MT DARK COMPANIONS

jungle, as he used to do. He was now always
seen with his long pipe, and boozing with wretched
idlers on the plantain wine purchased with his
wife's industry ; and when he came home it was
to storm at his wife in such a manner that she
could only bow to it in silence.

When Koku was most filled with malice, he had
an irritating way of disguising his spitefulness with
a wicked smile, while his tongue expressed all sorts
of contrary fancies. He would take delight in
saying that her smooth skin was as rough as the
leaf with which we polish our spear-shafts, that she
was dumpy and dwarfish, that her mouth reminded
him of a crocodile's, and her ears of an ape's;
her legs were crooked, and her feet were like
hippopotamus hoofs, and she was scorned for even
her nails, which were worn to the quick with
household toil ; and he continued in this style to
vex her, until at last he became persuaded that it
was she who tormented him. Then he accused her
of witchcraft. He said that it was by her witch's
medicines that she caught so many fish, and he
knew that some day she would poison him. Now,
in our country this is a very serious accusation.
However, she never crossed her husband's humour,
but received the bitterness with closed lips. This
silent habit of hers made matters worse. For, the
more patience she showed, the louder his accusa-
tions became, and theworse she appeared in his

THE QUEEN OF THE POOL 45

eyes. And indeed it is no wonder. If you make
up your mind that you will see naught in a wife
but faults, you become blind to everything else.

Her cooking also according to him was vile —
there was either too much palm oil or too little in
the herb-mess, there was sand in the meat of the fish,
the fowls were nothing but bones, she was said to
empty the chilli-pot into the stew, the house was not
clean, there were snakes in his bed — and so on and
so on. Then she threatened, when her tough pa-
tience quite broke down, that she would tell her
father if he did not desist, which so enraged him
that he took a thick stick, and beat her so cruelly
that she was nearly dead. This was too much to bear
from one so ungrateful, and she resolved to elope
into the woods, and live apart from all mankind.

She had travelled a good two days' journey
when she came in sight of a lengthy and wide pool
which was fed by many springs, and bordered by
tall, bending reeds ; and the view of this body of
water, backed by deep woods all round, appeared
to her so pleasing that she chose a level place near
its edge for a resting-place. Then she unstrapped
her hamper, and sitting down turned out the
things she had brought, and began to think of
what could be done with them. There was a
wedge-like axe which might also be used as an adze,
there were two hoes, a handy Basoko bill -hook, a
couple of small nets, a ladle, half-a-dozen small

46 MY DARK COMPANIONS

gourds full of grains, a cooking-pot, some small
fish-knives, a bunch of tinder, a couple of fire-sticks,
a short stick of sugar-cane, two banana bulbs, a
few beads, iron bangles, and tiny copper balls. As
she looked over all these things, she smiled with
satisfaction and thought she would manage well
enough. She then went into the pool a little way
and looked searchingly in for a time, and she
smiled again, as if to say "better and better."

Now with her axe she cut a hoe-handle, and in
a short time it was ready for use. Going to the
pool-side, she commenced to make quite a large
round hole. She laboured at this until the. hole
was as deep and wide as her own height ; then she
plastered the bottom evenly with the mud from
the pool-bank, and after that she made a great fire
at the bottom of the pit, and throughout the night
that followed, after a few winks of sleep, she
would rise and throw on more fuel. When the
next day dawned, after breaking her fast with a
few grains baked in her pot, she swept out all the
fire from the well, and wherever a crack appeared
in the baked bottom she filled it up carefully, and
she also plastered the sides all round smoothly,
and again she made a great fire in the pit, and
left it to burn all that day.

While the fire was baking the bottom and walls
of the well, she hid her hamper among a clump of
reeds, and explored her neighbourhood. During

THE QUEEN OF THE POOL 47

her wanderings she found a path leading north-
ward, and she noted it. She also discovered many
nuts, sweet red berries, some round, others oval,
and the fruit which is a delight to the elephants ;
and loading herself with as many of these articles
as she could carry, she returned, and sat down by
the mouth of the well, and refreshed herself. The
last work of the day was to take out the fire,
plaster up the cracks in the bottom and sides, and
re-make the fire as great as ever. Her bed she
made not far from it, with her axe by her side.

On the next morning she determined to follow
the path she had discovered the day before, and
when the sun was well-nigh at the middle of the
sky, she came suddenly in view of a banana grove,
whereupon she instantly retreated a little and hid
herself. When darkness had well set, she rose,
and penetrating the grove, cut down a large bunch
of bananas, with which she hurried back along the
road. When she came to a stick she had laid
across the path, she knew she was not far from
the pool, and she remained there until it was
sufficiently light to find her way to the well.

By the time she arrived at her well it was in a
perfect state, the walls being as sound and well
baked as her cooking-pot. After half-filling it
with water, she roasted a few bananas, and made a
contented meal from them. Then taking her pot
she boiled some bananas, and with these she made

48 MY DARK COMPANIONS

a batter. She now emptied the pot, smeared the
bottom and sides of it thickly with this sticky
batter, and then tying a vine round the pot she let
it down into the pond. As soon as it touched the
ground, lo ! the minnows nocked greedily into the
vessel to feed on the batter. And on Izoka sud-
denly drawing it up she brought out several score
of minnows, the spawn of catfish, and some of the
young of the bearded fish which grow to such an
immense size in our waters. The minnows she
took out and dried to serve as food, but the young
of the cat and bearded fish she dropped into her
well. She next dug a little ditch from the well
to the pool, and after making a strong and close
netting of cane splinters across the mouth of the
ditch, she made another narrow ditch to let a thin
rillet of spring water supply the well with fresh
water.

Every day she spent a little time in building a
hut, in a cosy place surrounded by bush, which
had only one opening ; then she would go and
work a little at a garden wherein she had planted
the sugar-cane, which had been cut into three
parts, and the two banana bulbs, and had sowed
her millet, and her sesamum, and yellow corn
which she had brought in the gourds, and every
day she carefully fed her fish in the well. But
there were three things she missed most in her
loneliness, and these were the cries of an infant,

THE QUEEN OF THE POOL 49

the proud cluck of the hen after she lays an egg,
and the bleating of a kid at her threshold. This
made her think that she might replace them by
something else, and she meditated long upon what
it might be.

Observing that there were a number of ground-
squirrels about, she thought of snares to catch
them. She accordingly made loops of slender but
strong vines near the roots of the trees, and across
their narrow tracks in the woods. And she suc-
ceeded at last in catching a pair. With other
vines rubbed over with bird-lime she caught some
young parrots and wagtails, whose wing feathers
she chopped off with her bill-hook. And one day,
while out gathering nuts and berries for her birds,
she came across a nest of the pelican, wherein were
some eggs ; and these she resolved to watch until
they were hatched, when she would take and rear
them. She had found full occupation for her mind,
in making cages for her squirrels and birds, and
providing them with food, and had no time at all
for grief.

Izoka, however, being very partial to the fish in
her well, devoted most of her leisure to feeding
them, and they became so tame, and intelligent that
they understood the cooing notes of a strange
song which she taught them, as though they were
human beings. She fed them plentifully with
banana-batter, so that in a few months they had
4

50 MY DARK COMPANIONS

grown into a goodly size. By-and-by, they became
too large for the well, and as they were perfectly
tame, she took them out, and allowed them to go
at large in the pool ; but punctually in the early
morning, and at noon and sunset, she called them
to her, and gave them their daily portion of food,
for by this time she had a goodly store of bananas
and grain from her plantation and garden. One
of the largest fish she called Munu, and he was so
intelligent and trustful in his mistress's hands that
he disliked going very far from the neighbourhood ;
and if she laid her two hands in the water, he
would rest contentedly in the hollow thus formed.
She had also strung her stock of shells and beads
into necklaces, and had fastened them round the
tails of her favorite fish.

Her other friends grew quite as tame as the fish,
for all kinds of animals learn to cast off their fears
of mankind in return for true kindness, and when
no disturbing shocks alarm them. And in this
lonely place, so sheltered by protecting woods,
where the wind had scarce power to rustle the
bending reed and hanging leaves, there was no
noise to inspire the most timid with fright.

If you try, you can fancy this young woman
Izoka sitting on the ground by the pool-side, sur-
rounded by her friends, like a mother by her off-
spring. In her arms a young pelican, on one
shoulder a chattering parrot, on the other a sharp

THE QUEEN OF THE POOL 51

eyed squirrel, sitting on his haunches, licking his
fore-feet ; in her lap another playing with his
bushy tail, and at her feet the wagtails, wagging
friskily their hind parts and kicking up little
showers of dusty soil. Between her and the pool
a long-legged heron, who has long ago been snared,
and has submitted to his mistress's kindness,
and now stands on one leg, as though he were
watching for her safety. Not far behind her is
her woodland home, well stored with food and
comforts, which are the products of her skill and
care. Swifts and sand-martins are flying about,
chasing one another merrily, and making the place
ring with their pipings ; the water of the pool lies
level and unwrinkled, save in front of her, where
the fish sometimes flop about, impatient for their
mistress's visit.

This was how she appeared one day to the cruel
eyes of Koku her husband, who had seen the
smoke of her fire as he was going by the path
which led to the north. Being a woodman as well
as a fisher, he had the craft of such as hunt, and
he stealthily approached from tree to tree until
he was so near that he could see the beady eyes
of the squirrel on her shoulder, who startled her
by his sudden movements. It was strange how
quickly the alarm was communicated from one to
another. His brother squirrel peeped from one
side with his tail over his back like a crest, the

52 MY DARK COMPANIONS

parrot turned one eye towards the tree behind
which Koku stood, and appeared transfixed, the
heron dropped his other leg to the ground, uttered
his melancholy cry, Kwa-le, and dropped his tail
as though he would surge upward. The wagtails
stopped their curtseying, the pelicans turned their
long bills and laid them lazily along their backs,
looking fixedly at the tree ; and at last Izoka,
warned by all these signs of her friends, also turned
her head in the same direction, but she saw no one,
and as it was sunset she took her friends indoors.

Presently she came out again, and went to
the pool-side with fish-food, and cooed softly to
her friends in the water, and the fish rushed to her
call, and crowded around her. After giving them
their food, she addressed Munu, the largest fish, and
said, " I am going out to-night to see if I cannot
find a discarded cooking-vessel, for mine is broken.
Beware of making friends with any man or
woman who cannot repeat the song I taught
you," and the fish replied by sweeping his tail to
right and left, according to his way.

Izoka, who now knew the woods by night as
well as by day, proceeded on her journey, little
suspecting that Koku had discovered her, and her
manner of life and woodland secrets. He waited a
little time, then crept to the pool-side, and repeated
the song which she had sung, and immediately
there was a great rush of fish towards him, at

THE QUEEN OF THE POOL 53

the number and size of which lie was amazed.
By this he perceived what chance of booty there
was here for him, and he sped away to the path
to the place where he had left his men, and he
cried out to them, "Come, haste with me to the
woods by a great pool, where I have discovered
loads of fish."

His men were only too glad to obey him, and
by midnight they had all arrived at the pool.
After stationing them near him in a line, with
their spears poised to strike, Koku sang the song
of Izoka in a soft voice, and the great and small
fish leapt joyfully from the depths where they
were sleeping, and they thronged towards the
shore, flinging themselves over each other, and
they stood for awhile gazing doubtfully up at the
line of men. But soon the cruel spears flew from
their hands, and Munu, the pride of Izoka, was
pierced by several, and was killed and dragged on
land by the shafts of the weapons which had slain
him. Munu was soon cut up, he and some others
of his fellows, and the men, loading themselves
with the meat, hastily departed.

Near moraine; Izoka returned to her home with
a load of bananas and a cooking-vessel, and after
a short rest and refreshment, she fed her friends —
the ground squirrels, the young pelicans, the par-
rots and herons, and scattered a generous supply
for the wagtails, and martins, and swifts ; then

54

MY DARK COMPANIONS

hastened with her bounties to the pool-side. But,
alas ! near the water's edge there was a sight
which almost caused her to faint — there were
tracks of many feet, bruised reeds, blood, scales,
and refuse of fish. She cooed softly to her friends ;

" MUNU, THE PRIDE OF IZOKA, WAS KILLED."

they heard her cry, but approached slowly and
doubtingly. She called out to Munu, " Munu-nu-
nu, oh, Munu, Munu, Munu ; " but Munu came
not, and the others stood w^ell away from the
shore, gazing at her reproachfully, and they would
not advance any nearer. Perceiving that they dis-

TEE QUEEN OF THE POOL 55

trusted her, she threw herself on the ground and
wept hot teai*s, and wailing, " Oh ! Munu, Munu,
Munu, why do you doubt me ? "

When Izoka's grief had somewhat subsided she
followed the tracks through the woods until she
came to the path, where they were much clearer,
and there she discovered that those who had vio-
lated her peaceful home, had travelled towards
Umane. A suspicion that her husband must have
been of the number served to anger her still more,
and she resolved to follow the plunderers, and en-
deavour to obtain justice. Swiftly she sped on
the trail, and after many hours' quick travel she
reached Urnane" after darkness had fallen. This
favoured her purpose, and she was able to steal,
unperceived, near to the open place in front of her
husband's house, when she saw Koku and his
friends feasting on fish, and heard him boast of
his discovery of the fine fish in a forest pool. In
her fury at his daring villainy she was nearly
tempted to rush upon him and cleave his head
with her bill-hook, but she controlled herself, and
sat down to think. Then she made the resolution
that she would go to her father and claim his pro-
tection— a privilege she might long ago have used
had not her pride been wounded by the brutal
treatment her person had received at the hands of
Koku.

Her father's village was but a little distance

56 MY DARK COMPANIONS

away from Umane, and in a short time all the
people in it were startled by hearing the shrill
voice of one who was believed to be long ago dead,
crying out in the darkness the names of Uyimba
and Twekay. On hearing the names of their chief
and his wife repeatedly called, the men seized
their spears and sallied out, and discovered, to
their astonishment, that the long-lost Izoka was
amongst them once again, and that she was suffer-
ing from great and overpowering grief. They led
her to her father's door, and called out to Uyimba
and his wife Twekay to come out, and receive her,
saying that it was a shame that the pride of
Umane should be suffering like a slave in her
father's own village. The old man and his wife
hurried out, torches were lit, and Twekay soon re-
ceived her weeping daughter in her arms.

In our country we are not very patient in pres-
ence of news, and as everybody wished to know
Izoka's story, she was made to sit down on a
shield, and tell all her adventures since she had
eloped from Umane. The people listened in won-
der to all the strange things that were told ; but
when she related the cruelty of Koku, the men
rose to their feet all together, and beat their
shields with their spears, and demanded the pun-
ishment of Koku, and that Uyimba should lead
them there and then to Umane. They accordingly
proceeded in a body to the town, to Koku's house,

THE QUEEN OF THE POOL 57

and as lie came out in answer to the call of one of
them, to ascertain what the matter was, they fell
upon him, and bound him hand and foot, and
carrying him to their superior chief's house they
put him to his trial. Many witnesses came for-
ward to testify against his cruel treatment of
Izoka, and of the robbery of the fish and of the
manner of it ; and the great chief placed Koku's
life in the power of Uyimba, whose daughter he
had wronged, who at once ordered Koku to be be-
headed, and his body to be thrown into the river.
The sentence was executed at the river-side with-
out loss of time. The people of Umane and
Uyimba's village then demanded that, as Izoka
had shown herself so clever and good as to make
birds, animals, and fish obey her voice, some mark
of popular favour should be given to her. Where-
upon the principal chief of Umane, in the name of
the tribe, ceded to her all rights to the Forest
Pool, and the wood and all things in it round
about as far as she could travel in half a day,
and also all the property of which Koku stood
possessed.

Izoka, by the favour of her tribe, thus became
owner of a large district, and mistress of many
slaves, and flocks, goats, and fowls, and all man-
ner of useful things for making a settlement by
the Pool. There is now a large village there, and
Izoka is well known in many lands near Umane

58 MY DARK COMPANIONS

and Basoko as the Queen of the Pool, and at last
accounts was still living, prosperous and happy;
but she has never been known to try marriage
again.

Kassim's story was greatly applauded, and he
became at once a favourite with the Zauzibaris.

" THE SENTENCE WAS EXECUTED WITHOUT LOSS OF TIME.

He was drawn towards the head man, and made
to sit down by him. One Zanzibari gave him a
handful of roasted peanuts, another gave him a
roasted banana, while a third touched up the fire ;
and the compliments he received were so many,
that for the time, as one could see, he was quite

THE QUEEN OF THE POOL 59

vain. When a royal Dabwani cloth was spread
out for inspection, and finally flung over his shoul-
ders, we saw him cast a look at Baruti, which we
knew to mean, "Ah, ah, Baruti, other folk can
tell a story as well as you ! "

THE ELEPHANT AND THE LION

T a camp on the Upper

Congo, in 1877,
Chakanja drew
near our fire as
story-telling was
about to begin,
and was immedi-
ately beset with
eager demands
for a tale from
him. Like a singer who always professes to have
a cold before he indulges his friends with a song,
Chakanja needed more than a few entreaties ; but
finally, after vowing that he never could remem-
ber anything, he consented to gratify us with the
legend of the Elephant and the Lion.

" Well," he answered, with a deep sigh, " if I
must, I must. You must know we Waganda are
fond of three things — To have a nice wife, a
pleasant farm, and to hear good news, or a lively
story. I have heard a great many stories in my
life, but unlike Kadu, my mind remembers them
not. Men's heads are not the same, any more

THE ELEPHANT AND THE LION 61

than men's hearts are alike. But I take it that a
poor tale is better than none. It comes back to
me like a dream, this tale of the Elephant and
the Lion. I heard it first when on a visit to
Gabunga's ; but who can tell it like him ? If you
think the tale is not well told, it is my fault ; but
then, do not blame me too much, or I shall think
I ought to blame you to-morrow when it will be
your turn to amuse the party."

Now open your ears ! A huge and sour-tem-
pered elephant went and wandered in the forest.
His inside was slack for want of juicy roots and
succulent reeds, but his head was as full of dark
thoughts as a gadfly is full of blood. As he looked
this way and that, he observed a young lion asleep
at the foot of a tree. He regarded him for awhile,
then, as he was in a wicked mood, it came to him
that he might as well kill the lion, and he accord-
ingly rushed forward and impaled him with his
tusks. He then lifted the body with his trunk,
swung it about, and dashed it against the tree, and
afterwards kneeled on it until it became as shape-
less as a crushed banana pulp. He then laughed
and said, " Ha ! ha ! This is a proof that I am
strong. I have killed a lion, and people will
say proud things of me, and will wonder at my
strength."

Presently a brother elephant came up and
greeted him.

62 MY DARK COMPANIONS

" See," said the first elephant, " what I have
done. It was I that killed him. I lifted him on
high, and lo, he lies like a rotten banana. Do you
not think that I am very strong ? Come, be frank
now, and give me some credit for what I have
done."

Elephant No. 2 replied, " It is true that you are
strong, but that was only a young lion. There are
others of his kind, and I have seen them, who
would give you considerable trouble."

" Ho, ho ! " laughed the first elephant. " Get
out, stupid. You may bring his whole tribe here,
and I will show you what I can do. Aye ! and to
your dam to boot."

" What ? My o^yn mother, too ? "

* Yes Go and fetch her if you like."

" Well, well," said No. 2, " you are far gone,
there is no doubt. Fare you well."

No. 2 proceeded on his wanderings, resolved
in his own mind that if he had an opportunity he
would send some one to test the boaster's strength.
No. 1 called out to him as he moved off —

" Away you go. Good-by to you."

In a little while No. 2 Elephant met a lion
and lioness, full grown, and splendid creatures,
who turned out to be the parents of the youngster
which had been slain. After a sociable chat with
them, he said :

"If you go further on along the path I came

THE ELEPHANT AND THE LION 03

you will meet a kind of game which requires
killing badly. He has just mangled your cub."

Meantime Elephant No. 1, after chuckling to
himself very conceitedly, proceeded to the pool
near by to bathe and cool himself. At every step
he went you could hear his " Ha, ha, ha ! loh ! I
have killed a lion ! " While he was in the pool,
spurting the water in a shower over his back, he
suddenly looked up, and at the water's edge
beheld a lion and lioness who were regarding
him sternly.

" Well ! What do you want ? " he asked.
" Why are you standing there looking at me in
that way ? "

" Are you the rogue who killed our child ? "
they asked.

" Perhaps I am," he answered. " Why do you
want to know ? "

" Because we are in search of him. If it be
you that did it, you will have to do the same to
us before you leave this ground."

" Ho ! ho ! " laughed the elephant loudly.
"Well, hark. It was I who killed your cub.
Come now, it was I. Do you hear ? And if you
do not leave here mighty quick, I shall have to
serve you both in the same way as I served him."

The lions roared aloud in their fury, and
switched their tails violently.

" Ho, ho ! " laughed the elephant gaily. " This

64 MY DARK COMPANIONS

is grand. There is no doubt I shall run soon,
they make me so skeery," and he danced round
the pool and jeered at them, then drank a great
quantity of water and blew it in a shower over
them.

The lions stirred not, but kept steadfastly
gazing at him, planning how to make their attack.
. Perceiving that they were obstinate, he threw
another stream of water over the lions and then
backed into the deepest part of the pool, until
there was nothing seen of him but the tip of his
trunk. When he rose again the lions were still
watching him, and had not moved.

" Ho, ho ! " he trumpeted, " still there ? Wait
a little, I am coming to you." He advanced
towards the shore, but when he was close enough
the lion sire sprang into the air, and alighted on
the elephant's back, and furiously tore at the
muscles of the neck, and bit deep into the shoulder.
The elephant retreated quickly into the deepest
part of the pool, and submerged himself and his
enemy, until the lion was compelled to abandon
his back and begin to swim ashore. No sooner
had the elephant felt himself relieved, than he rose
to the surface, and hastily followed and seized the
lion with his trunk. Despite his struggles he was
pressed beneath the surface, dragged under his
knees, and trodden into the mud, and in a short
time the lion sire was dead.

THE ELEPHANT AND THE LION 6?

The elephant laughed triumphantly, and cried,
" Ho, ho ! am I not strong, Ma Lion ? Did you
ever see the likes of me before ? Two of you !
Young Lion and Pa Lion are now killed ! Come,
Ma Lion, had you not better try now, just to see
if you won't have better luck? Come on, old
woman, just once."

The lioness fiercely answered, while she re-
treated from the pool, " Rest where you are. I
am going to find my brother, and will be back
shortly."

The elephant trumpeted his scorn of her and her
kind, and seizing the carcase of her lord, flung it
on shore after her, and declared his readiness to
abide where he was, that he might make mash of
all the lion family.

In a short time the lioness had found her
brother, who was a mighty fellow, and full of fight.
As they advanced near the pool together, they
consulted as to the best means of getting at the
elephant. Then the lioness sprang forward to the
edge of the pool. The elephant retreated a short
distance into deeper water. The lioness upon this
crept along the pool, and pretended to lap the
water. The elephant moved towards her. The
lion waited his chance, and finally, with a great
roar, sprang upon his shoulders, and commenced
tearing away at the very place which had been
torn by lion sire.

68

MY DARK COMPANIONS

The elephant backed quickly into deep water as
he had done before, and submerged himself, but
the lion maintained his hold and bit deeper. The
elephant then sank down until there was nothing
to be seen but the tip of his trunk, upon which the

"DROVE ONE OF HIS TUSKS THROUGH HIS ADVERSARY'S BODY."

lion, to avoid suffocation, relaxed his hold and
swam vigorously towards shore. The elephant
rose up, and as the lion was stepping on shore,
seized him, and drove one of his tusks through his
adversary's body ; but as he was in the act, the
lioness sprang upon the elephant's neck, and bit

THE ELEPHANT AND THE LION 69

and tore so furiously that he fell dead, and with
his fall crushed the dying lion.

Soon after the close of the terrible qombat, Ele-
phant No. 2 came up, and discovered the lioness
licking her chops and paws, and said —

" Hello, it seems there has been quite a quarrel
here lately. Three lions are dead, and here lies
one of my own kind, stiffening."

" Yes," replied lioness, gloomily, " the rogue
elephant killed my cub while the little fellow was
asleep in the woods. He then killed my husband
and brother, and I killed him ; but I do not think
the elephant has gained much by fighting with
us. I did not have much trouble in killing him.
Should you meet any friends of his, you may warn
them to leave the lioness alone, or she may be
tempted to make short work of them."

Elephant No. 2, though a patient person gener-
ally, was annoyed at this, and gave her a sudden
kick with one of his hind feet, which sent her
sprawling a good distance off, and asked —

" How do you like that, Ma Lion ? "

" What do you mean by that ? " demanded the
enraged lioness.

" Oh, because I hate to hear so much bragging."

" Do you also wish to fight ? " she asked.

" We should never talk about doing an impossi-
ble thing, Ma Lion," he answered. " I have trav-
elled many years through these woods, and I have

70 MY DARK COMPANIONS

never fought yet. I find that when a person minds
his own business he seldom comes to trouble, and
when I meet one who is even stronger than myself
I greet him pleasantly, and pass on, and I should
advise you to do the same, Ma Lion."

"You are saucy, Elephant. It would be well
for you to think upon your stupid brother there,
who lies so stark under your nose, before you
trouble with your insolence one who slew him."

" Well, words never yet made a plantation ; it
is the handling of a hoe that makes fields. See
here, Ma Lion, if I talked to you all day I could
not make you wise. I will just turn my back to
you. If you will bite me, you will soon learn how
weak you are."

The lioness, angered still more by the elephant's
contempt, sprang at his shoulders, and clung to
him, upon which he rushed at a stout tree, and
pressing his shoulders against it, crushed the
breath out of her body, and she ceased her
struggles. When he relaxed his pressure, the
body fell to the ground, and he knelt upon it, and
kneaded it until every bone was broken.

While the elephant was meditatively standing
over the body, and thinking what misfortunes
happen to boasters, a man came along, carrying a
spear, and seeing that the elephant was unaware
of his presence, he thought what great luck had
happened to him.

THE ELEPHANT AND THE LION 73

Said he, " Ah, what fine tusks he has. I shall
be rich with them, and shall buy slaves and cattle,
and with these I will get a wife and a farm," say-
ing which he advanced silently, and when he was
near enough, darted his spear into a place behind
the shoulder.

The elephant turned around quickly, and on
beholding his enemy rushed after and overtook
him, and mauled him, until in a few moments he
was a mangled corpse.

Soon after a woman approached, and seeing
four lions, one elephant, and her husband dead,
she raised up her hands wonderingly and cried,
" How did all this happen ? " The elephant, hear-
ing her voice, came from behind a tree, with a spear
quivering in his side, and bleeding profusely. At
the sight of him the woman turned round to fly,
but the elephant cried out to her, " Nay, run not,
woman, for I can do you no harm. The happy
days in the woods are ended for all the tribes.
The memory of this scene will never be forgotten.
Animals will be henceforth at constant war one
with another. Lions will no more greet elephants,
the buffaloes will be shy, the rhinoceroses will live
apart, and man when he comes within the shadows
will think of nothing else than his terrors, and he
will fancy an enemy in every shadow. I am sorely
wounded, for thy man stole up to my side and
drove his spear into me, and soon I shall die."

74 MY DARK COMPANIONS

When she had heard these words the woman
hastened home, and all the villagers, old and
young, hurried into the woods, by the pool, where
they found four lions, two elephants, and one of
their own tribe lying still and lifeless.

The words of the elephant have turned out to
be time, for no man goes now-a-days into the
silent and deserted woods but he feels as though
something were haunting them, and thinks of
goblinry, and starts at every sound. Out of the
shadows which shift with the sun, forms seem
crawling and phantoms appear to glide, and we are
in a fever almost from the horrible illusions of
fancy. We breathe quickly and fear to speak, for
the smallest vibration in the silence would jar on
our nerves. I speak the truth, for when I am in
the woods near the night, there swims before my
eyes a multitude of terrible things which I never
see by the light of day. The flash of a fire-fly is a
ghost, the chant of a frog becomes a frightful roar,
the sudden piping of a bird signalises murder, and
I run. No, no ; no woods for me when alone.

And Chakanja rose to his feet and went to his
own quarters, solemnly shaking his head. But we
all smiled at Chakanja, and thought how terribly
frightened he would be if any one suddenly rose
from behind a dark bush and cried " Boo ! " to
him.

KING GUMBI AND HIS LOST DAUGHTER

E were all gathered
about the fire as
usual, when Safeni,
the sage coxswain,
exclaimed, "See
here, boys ; do you
not think that for
once in a while it
would be well to
hear some legend
connected with men
and women ? I vote
that one of you who have amused us with tales
of lions and leopards, should search his memory,
and tell the company a brave story about some
son of Adam. Come, you Katembo, have the
Manyema no legends ! "

" Well, yes, we have ; but my ears have been so
open heretofore that my tongue has almost for-
gotten its uses, and I fear that after the smooth
and delightful tales of Kadu, you will not think
me expert in speech. However, and if you care to
hear of it, I can give you the legend of Gumbi,

76 MY DARK COMPANIONS

one of our kings in long-past days, and his
daughter."

" Speak, speak, Katembo," cried the company ;
" let us hear a Manyema legend to-night."

Katembo, after this general invitation, cleared
his throat, brought the soles of his feet nearer
the fire, and amid respectful silence spoke as
follows : —

It was believed in the olden time that if a king's
daughter had the misfortune to be guilty of ten
mistakes, she should suffer for half of them, and
her father would be punished for the rest. Now,
King Gumbi had lately married ten wives, and all
at once this old belief of the elders about troubles
with daughters came into his head, and he issued
a command, which was to be obeyed upon pain of
death, that if any female children should be born
to him they should be thrown into the Lualaba,
and drowned, for, said he, " the dead are beyond
temptation to err, and I shall escape mischief."

To avoid the reproaches of his wives, on account
of the cruel order, the king thought he would
absent himself, and he took a large following with
him and went to visit other towns of his country.
Within a few days after his departure there were
born to him five sons and five daughters. Four of
the female infants were at once disposed of accord-
ing to the king's command ; but when the fifth
daughter was born, she was so beautiful, and had

KISO GUMBI AND IIIS LOST DAUGHTER 77

such great eyes, and her colour was mellow, so like
a ripe banana, that the chief nurse hesitated, and
when the mother pleaded so hard for her child's
life, she made up her mind that the little infant
should be saved. When the mother was able to
rise, the nurse hastened her away secretly by night.

In the morning the queen found herself in a
dark forest, and, being alone, she began to talk to
herself, as people generally do, and a grey parrot
with a beautiful red tail came flying along, and
asked, " What is it you are saying to yourself, O
Miami ? "

She answered and said, " Ah, beautiful little
parrot, I am thinking what I ought to do to save
the life of my little child. Tell me how I can save
her, for Gumbi wishes to destroy all his female
children."

The parrot replied, "I grieve for you greatly,
but I do not know. Ask the next parrot you see,"
and he flew away.

A second parrot still more beautiful came flying
towards her, whistling and screeching merrily, and
the queen lifted her voice and cried —

" Ah, little parrot, stop a bit, and tell me how I
can save my sweet child's life ; for cruel Gumbi,
her father, wants to kill it."

" Ah, mistress, I may not tell ; but there is one
comes behind me who knows ; ask him," and he
also flew to his day's haunts.

?8

Mr dark companions

Then the third parrot was seen to fly towards
her, and he made the forest ring with his happy
whistling, and Miami cried out again —

•*U,U.V»,.

'DELIVER IT TO ME,' ANSWERED THE PARROT."

"^^^M^

" Oh, stay, little parrot, and tell me in what way
I can save my sweet child, for Gumbi, her father,
vows he will kill it."

" Deliver it to me," answered the parrot. " But

KING OUMBI AND HIS LOST DAUGHTER 79

first let me put a small banana stalk and two
pieces of sugar-cane with it, and then I shall cany
it safely to its grandmamma."

The parrot relieved the queen of her child, and
flew through the air, screeching merrier than
before, and in a short time had laid the little
princess, her banana stalk, and two pieces of
sugar-cane in the lap of the grandmamma, who
was sitting at the door of her house, and said —

" This bundle contains a gift from your daughter,
wife of Gumbi. She bids you be careful of it,
and let none out of your own family see it, lest
she should be slain by the king. And to remem-
ber this day, she requests you to plant the banana
stalk in your garden at one end, and at the other
end the two pieces of sugar-cane, for you may
need both."

"Your words are good and wise," answered
granny, as she received the babe.

On opening the bundle the old woman dis-
covered a female child, exceedingly pretty, plump,
and yellow as a ripe banana, with large black eyes,
and such smiles on its bright face that the grand-
mother's heart glowed with affection for it.

Many seasons came and went by. No stranger
came round to ask questions. The banana
flourished and grew into a grove, and each sprout
marked the passage of a season, and the sugar-
cane likewise throve prodigiously as year after

80 MY DARK COMPANIONS

}rear passed and the infant grew into girl-
hood. When the princess had bloomed into a
beautiful maiden, the grandmother had become
so old that the events of long ago appeared to
her to be like so many dreams, but she still
worshipped her child's child, cooked for her,
waited upon her, wove new grass mats for her
bed, and fine grass cloths for her dress, and every
night before she retired she washed her dainty
feet.

Then one day, before her ears were quite closed
by age, and her limbs had become too weak to bear
her about, the parrot who brought the child to her,
came and rested upon a branch near her door, and
after piping and whistling its greeting, cried out,
" The time has come. Gunibi's daughter must
depart, and seek her father. Furnish her with a
little drum, teach her a song to sing while she
beats it, and send her forth."

Then granny purchased for her a tiny drum, and
taught her a song, and when she had been fully
instructed she prepared a new canoe with food —
from the bananas in the grove, and the plot of
sugar-cane, and she made cushions from grass-cloth
ba^s stuffed with silk-cotton floss for her to rest
upon. When all was ready she embraced her
grand-daughter, and with many tears sent her away
down the river, with four women servants.

Granny stood for a long time by the river bank,

KING QUMBI AND HIS LOST DAUGHTER

81

watching the little canoe disappear with the
current, then she turned and entered the doorway,
and sitting down closed her eyes, and began to
think of the pleasant life she had enjoyed while
serving Miami's child ; and while so doing she was
so pleased that she smiled, and as she smiled she
slept, and never woke again.

SENT HER A WAV DOWN THE RIVER.

But the princess, as she floated down and
bathed her eyes, which had smarted with her
grief, began to think of all that granny had taught
her, and began to sing in a fluty voice, as she beat
her tiny drum —

82 MY DARK COMPANIONS

1 List, all you men,

To the song I sing.

I am Gumbi's child,

Brought up in the wild;

And home I return,

As you all will learn,

When this my little drum

Tells Gumbi I have come, come, come.'

The sound of her drum attracted the attention
of the fishermen who were engaged with their nets,
and seeing a strange canoe with only five women
aboard floating down the river, they drew near to
it, and when they saw how beautiful the princess
was, and noted her graceful, lithe figure clad in
robes of fine grass-cloths, they were inclined to lay
their hands upon her. But she sang again —

' I am Gumbi's child,

Make way for me ;

I am homeward bound,

Make way for me.'

Then the fishermen were afraid and did not
molest her. But one desirous of being- the first to
cany the news to the king, and obtain favour and
a reward for it, hastened away to tell him that
his daughter was corning to visit him.

The news plunged King Gumbi into a state of
wonder, for as he had taken such pains to destroy
all female children, he could not imagine how he
could be the father of a daughter.

Then he sent a quick-footed and confidential
slave to inquire, who soon returned and assured

KING OUMBI AND HIS LOST DAUGHTER 83

him that the girl who was coming to him was his
own true daughter.

Then he sent a man who had grown up with
him, who knew all that had happened in his court ;
and he also returned and confirmed all that the
slave had said.

Upon this he resolved to go himself, and when
he met her he asked —

" Who art thou, child ? "

And she replied, " I am the only daughter of
Gumbi."

" And who is Gumbi ? "

" He is the king of this country," she replied.

" Well, but I am Gumbi myself, and how canst
thou be my daughter ? " he asked.

" I am the child of thy wife, Miami, and after I
was born she hid me that I might not be cast into
the river. I have been living with grandmamma,
who nursed me, and by the number of banana
stalks in her garden thou mayest tell the number of
the seasons that have passed since my birth. One
day she told me the time had conie, and she sent
me to seek my father; and I embarked in the
canoe with four servants, and the river bore me
to this land."

"Well," said Gumbi, "when I return home I
shall question Miami, and I shall soon discover the
truth of thy story ; but meantime, what must I do
for thee?"

84 MY DARK COMPANIONS

"My grandmamma said that thou must sacri-
fice a goat to the meeting of the daughter with the
father," she replied.

Then the king requested her to step on the
shore, and when he saw the flash of her yellow
feet, and the gleams of her body, which were like
shining bright gum, and gazed on the clear,
smooth features, and looked into the wondrous
black eyes, Gumbi's heart melted and he was filled
with pride that such a surpassingly beautiful
creature should be his own daughter.

But she refused to set her feet on the shore until
another goat had been sacrificed, for her grand-
mother had said ill-luck would befall her if these
ceremonies were neglected.

Therefore the king commanded that two goats
should be slain, one for the meeting with his
daughter," and one to drive away ill-luck from
before her in the land where she would first rest
her feet.

When this had been done, she said, "Now,
father, it is not meet that thy recovered daughter
should soil her feet on the path to her father's
house. Thou must lay a grass cloth along the
ground all the way to my mother's door."

The king thereupon ordered a grass cloth to
be spread along the path towards the women's
quarters, but he did not mention to which door-
way. His daughter then moved forward, the king

KING OVMBI AND MS LOST DAUGHTER

85

by her side, until they came in view of all the
king's wives, and then Grumbi cried out to them —
"One of you, I am told, is the mother of this
girl. Look on her, and be not ashamed to own her,
for she is as perfect as the egg. At the first sight
of her I felt like a man filled with pleasantness, so

"MIAMI WAS ILL AND WEAK AND SAT AT THE DOOR."

let the mother come forward and claim her, and
let her not destroy herself with a lie."

Now all the women bent forward and longed to
say, " She is mine, she is mine ! " but Miami, who
was ill and weak, sat at the door, and said —

" Continue the matting to my doorway, for as I

86 MY DARK COMPANIONS

feel my heart is connected with her as by a cord,
she must be the child whom the parrot earned to
my mother with a banana stalk and two pieces of
sugar-cane."

" Yes, yes, thou must be my own mother," cried
the princess ; and when the grass cloth was laid
even to the inside of the house, she ran forward,
and folded her arms around her.

When Gumbi saw them together he said,
" Truly, equals always come together. I see now
by many things that the princess must be right.
But she will not long remain with me, I fear, for
a king's daughter cannot remain many moons
without suitors."

Now though Gumbi considered it a trifle to de-
stroy children whom he had never seen, it never
entered into his mind to hurt Miami or the prin-
cess. On the contrary, he was filled with a glad-
ness which he was never tired of talking about.
He was even prouder of his daughter, whose lovely
shape and limpid eyes so charmed him, than of all
his tall sons. He proved this by the feasts he
caused to be provided for all the people. Goats
were roasted and stewed, the fishermen brought
fish without number, the peasants came loaded
with weighty bunches of bananas, and baskets of
yams, and manioc, and pots full of beans, and
vetches, and millet and corn, and honey and palm-
oil, and as for the fowls — who could count them ?

KING GUMBI AND HIS LOST DAUGHTER 87

The people also had plenty to drink of the juice
of the palm, and thus they were made to rejoice
with the king in the return of the princess.

It was soon spread throughout Manyema that no
woman was like unto Gumbi's daughter for beauty.
Some said that she was of the colour of a ripe
banana, others that she was like fossil gum, others
like a reddish oil-nut, and others again that her
face was more like the colour of the moon than
anything else. The effect of this reputation was
to bring nearly all the young chiefs in the land as
suitors for her hand. Many of them would have
been pleasing to the king, but the princess was
averse to them, and she caused it to be made
known that she would marry none save the young
chief who could produce matako (brass rods) by
polishing his teeth. The king was very much
amused at this, but the chiefs stared in surprise
as they heard it.

The king mustered the choicest young men of
the land, and he told them it was useless for any
one to hope to be married to the princess unless
he could drop brass rods by rubbing his teeth.
Though they held it to be impossible that any one
could do such a thing, yet every one of them
began to rub his teeth hard, and as they did so,
lo ! brass rods were seen to drop on the ground
from the mouth of one of them, and the people
gave a great shout for wonder at it.

88 MY DARK COMPANIONS

The princess was then brought forward, and as
the young chief rose to his feet he continued to
rub his teeth, and the brass rods were heard to
tinkle as they fell to the ground. The marriage
was therefore duly proceeded with, and another
round of feasts followed, for the king was rich in
flocks of goats, and sheep, and in well-tilled fields
and slaves.

But after the first moon had waned and gone,
the husband said, " Come, now, let us depart, for
Gumbi's land is no home for me."

And unknown to Gumbi they prepared for
flight, and stowed their canoe with all things
needful for a long journey, and one night soon
after dark they embarked, and paddled down the
river. One day the princess, while she was seated
on her cushions, saw a curious nut floating near
the canoe, upon which she sprang into the river to
obtain it. It eluded her grasp. She swam after
it, and the chief followed her as well as he was
able, crying out to her to return to the canoe, as
there were dangerous animals in the water. But
she paid no heed to him, and continued to swim
after the nut, until, when she had arrived opposite
a village, the princess was hailed by an old
woman, who cried, " Ho, princess, I have got what
thou seekest. See." And she held the nut up in
her hand. Then the princess stepped on shore,
and her husband made fast his canoe to the bank.

KINO OUMBI AND HIS LOST DAUGHTER 89

" Give it to me," demanded the princess, holding
out her hand.

" There is one thing thou must do for me before
thou canst obtain it."

" What is that ? " she asked.

"Thou must lay thy hands upon my bosom to
cure me of my disease. Only thus canst thou
have it," the old woman said.

The princess laid her hands upon her bosom, and
as she did so the old woman was cured of her
illness.

" Now thou mayest depart on thy journey, but
remember what I tell thee. Thou and thy
husband must clino; close to this side of the river
until thou comest abreast of an island which is in
the middle of the entrance to a o-reat lake. For
the shore thou seekest is on this side. Once there
thou wilt find peace and rest for many years. But
if thou o-oest to the other side of the river thou
wilt be lost, thou and thy husband."

Then they re-embarked, and the river ran
straight and smooth before them. After some
days they discovered that the side they were on
was uninhabited, and that their provisions were
exhausted, but the other side was cultivated, and
possessed many villages and plantations. For-
getting the advice of the old woman, they crossed
the river to the opposite shore, and they admired
the beauty of the land, and joyed in the odours

90 MY DARK COMPANIONS

that came from the gardens and the plantations,
and they dreamily listened to the winds that
crumpled and tossed the great fronds of banana,
and fancied that they had seen no sky so blue.
And while they thus dreamed, lo ! the river
current was bearing them both swiftly along, and
they saw the island which was at the entrance to
the great lake, and in an instant the beauty of the
land which had charmed them had died away, and
they now heard the thunderous booming of waters,
and saw them surging upward in great sweeps, and
one great wave curved underneath them, and they
were lifted up, up, up, and dropped down into the
roaring abyss, and neither chief nor princess was
ever seen again. They were both swallowed up in
the deep.

" Is that all ? " asked Safeni, who had been
listening breathlessly to the story.

"That is all," replied Katembo.

" Why, what kind of a story is this, that finishes
in that way ? "

" It is not mine," answered Katembo. " The
telling of it has been according to the words I
heard, and it is not good to alter a tale."

" Then what is the object of such a story ? "
demanded Safeni, in an irritable tone.

" Why, to warn people from following their incli-
nations. Did not the girl find her father? Did
not her father welcome her, and pardon the mother

KING QUMBI AND HIS LOST DAUGHTER <jl

for very joy ? Was not her own choice of a hus-
band found for her ? Was not the young chief for-
tunate in possessing such a beautiful wife ? Why
should they have become discontented \ Why
not have stayed at home instead of wandering into
strange lands of which they knew nothing ? Did
not the old woman warn them of what would hap-
pen, and point to them how they might live in
peace once again ? But it was all to no purpose.
We never know the value of anything until we
have lost it. Ruin follows the wilful always.
They left their home and took to the river, the
river was not still, but moved on, and as their
heads were already full of their own thoughts,
they could not keep advice. But Katembo has
ended."

THE STORY OF MARANDA*

[ASTER," said Ba-
ruti, "I have been
trying hard to re-
call some of the
other legen,ds I
used to hear when
I was very small,
and I now recollect
one, which is not
very long, about
Maranda, a wife of one of the Basoko warriors,
called Mafala."

Maranda1s father was named Sukila, and he lived
in the village of Chief Busaudiya. Sukila owned
a fine large canoe and many paddles, which he had
carved with his own hand. He possessed also sev-
eral long nets which he himself also made, besides
spears, knives, a store of grass-cloths, and a few
slaves. He was highly respected by his country-
men, and sat by the chief's side in the council
place.

*A Basoko Legend, republished from the "Fortnightly Magazine"
by the courtesy of the Editor and Proprietors.

THE STORY OF MAR AN DA 93

As the girl grew to be fit for marriage, Mafala
thought she would suit him as a wife, and went
and spoke of it to Sukila, who demanded a slave
girl, six long paddles ornamented with ivory caps,
six goats, as many grass-cloths as he had fingers
and toes, a new shield, two axes, and two field-
hoes. Mafala tried to reduce the demand, and
walked backwards and forwards many times to
smoke pipes with Sukila, and get him to be less
exacting. But the old man knew his daughter
was worth the price he had put upon her, and that
if he refused Mafala, she would not remain long
without a suitor. For a girl like Maranda is not
often seen among the Basokos. Her limbs were
round and smooth, and ended in thin, small hands
and feet. The young men often spoke about Ma-
randa's light, straight feet, and quick-lifting step.
A boy's arm could easily enclose the slim waist,
and the manner in which she carried her head,
and the supple neck and the clear look in her eyes
belonged to Maranda only.

Mafala, on the other hand, was curiously unlike
her. He always seemed set on something, and the
lines between the eyebrows gave him a severe face,
not pleasant to see, and you always caught some-
thing in his eyes that made you think of the glitter
which is in a serpent's eye.

Perhaps that was one reason why Sukila did not
care to have him for his daughter's husband. At

94 MY DARK COMPANIONS

any rate, lie would not abate his price one grass-
cloth, and at last it was paid, and Maranda passed
over from her father's house into that of her
husband.

Soon after the marriage Maranda was heard to
cry out, and it was whispered that she had learned
much about Mafala in a few days, and that blows
as from a rod had been heard. Half a moon
passed away, and then all the village knew that
Maranda had fled to Busandiya's house, because of
her husband's ill-treatment. Now the custom in
such a case is that the father keeps his daughter's
dowry, and if it be true that a wife finds life with
her husband too harsh to be borne, she may seek
the chiefs protection, and the chief may give her
to another husband who will treat her properly.

But before the chief had chosen the man to
whom he would give her, Mafala went to a croco-
dile— for it turned out that he was a Mganga, a
witch-man who had dealings with reptiles on land,
as well "as with the monsters of the river, — and he
bargained with it to catch her as she came to the
river to wash, and carry her up to a certain place
on the river bank where there was a tall tree with
a large hole in it.

The crocodile bided his chance, and one morning,
when Maranda visited the water, he seized her by
the hand, and swept her onto his back, and car-
ried her to the hiding-place in the hollow tree,

THE STORY OF MARANDA 95

He then left her there, and swam down opposite
the village, and signalled to Mafala that he had
performed his part of the bargain.

On the crocodile's departure Maranda looked
about the hole, and saw that she was in a kind of
pit, but a long way up the hollow narrowed like
the neck of a gourd, and she could see foliage and

" SWAM DOWN OPPOSITE THE VILLAGE.''

a bit of sky. She determined to climb up, and
though she scratched herself very much, she finally
managed to reach the very top, and to crawl out-
side into the air. The tree was very large and
lofty, and the branches spread out far, and they
were laden with the heavy fruit of which ele-
phants are so fond.* At first she thought that she

* The jackfruit.

96 MY DARK COMPANIONS

could not starve because of so many of these big
fruit ; then, as they were large and heavy, she con-
ceived the idea that they might be useful to defend
herself, and she collected a great number of them,
and laid them in a heap over some sticks she had
laid across the branches.

By-and-by Mafala came, and discovered her high
up among the foliage, and after jeering at her,
began to climb the tree. But when he was only
half-way up, Maranda lifted one of the ponderous
fruit and flung it on his head, and he fell to the
ground with his senses all in a whirl and his back
greatly bruised. When he recovered he begged
the crocodile to help him, and he tried to climb
up, but when he had ascended but a little way,
Maranda dropped one of the elephant fruit fairly
on his snout, which sent him falling backwards.
Mafala then begged two great serpents to ascend
and bring her down, but Maranda met them with
the heavy fruit one after another, and they were
glad to leave her alone. Then the man departed to
seek a leopard, but while he was absent Maranda,
from her tree, saw a canoe on the river with two
young fishermen in it, and she screamed loudly
for help. The fishermen paddled close ashore and
found that it was Sukila's daughter, the wife of
Mafala, who was alone on a tall tree. They waited
long enough to hear her story, and then returned
to the village to obtain assistance.

THE STORY OF MAR ANT) A 97

Busandiya was much astonished to hear the
fishermen's news, and forthwith sent a war-canoe
full of armed men, led by the father, Sukila, to
rescue her. By means of rattan-climbers they con-
trived to reach her, and to bring her down safely.
While some of the war-party set out to discover
Mafala, the others watched for the crocodile and
the two serpents. In a short time the cruel man
was seen and caught, and he was brought to the
river-side, bound with green withes. His legs and
his arms were firmly tied together, and, after the
Basoko had made Maranda repeat her story from
the beginning, and Sukila had told the manner of
the marriage, they searched for great stones, which
they fastened to his neck ; and, lifting him into
the war-canoe, they paddled into the middle of the
stream, where they sang a death-chant ; after
which they dropped Mafala overboard and he was
never heard of more. That is all there is of the
story of Maranda.

THE STORY OF KITINDA AND HER
WISE DOG

N another night Ba-
ruti, whose memory
was freshened by
the reward which
followed a story
worthy of being
written in the Mas-
ter's book, told us
about Kitinda and
her wise dog, so
well indeed that by
common consent he
was acclaimed one
of the best among
the story-tellers.
But it was not so well rehearsed to me while I
had my pencil in hand as he had delivered it at
the camp fire. It bothered him to be asked to
dictate it a little slower to me, and he showed
marked signs of inattention when told to repeat a
sentence twice over. All I can flatter myself is
that it contains the sense of what was said.

Kitinda, a woman of the Basoko, near the Aru-

THE STORY OF KITINDA AKD HER WTSE DOG 99

wimi river, possessed a dog who was remarkable
for his intelligence. It was said that he was so
clever that strangers understood his motions as
well as though he talked to them ; and that Ki-
tinda, familiar with his ways and the tones of his
whines, his yelps, and his barks, could converse
with him as easily as she could with her husband.

One market-day the mistress and her dog agreed
to go together, and on the road she told him all
she intended to do and say in disposing of her
produce in exchange for other articles which she
needed in her home. Her dog listened with sym-
pathy, and then, in his own manner, he conveyed
to her how great was his attachment to her, and
how there never was such a friend as he could be ;
and he begged her that, if at any time she was in
distress, she would tell him, and that he would
serve her with all his might. " Only," he said,
"were it not that I am afraid of the effects of
being too clever, I could have served you oftener
and much more than I have done."

" What do you mean ? " said Kitinda.

" Well, you know, among the Basoko, it is sup-
posed, if one is too clever, or too lucky, or too rich,
that it has come about through dealings in witch-
craft, and people are burned in consequence. I do
not like the idea of being burned — and therefore I
have refrained often from assisting you because I
feared you could not contain your surprise, -and

100 MY DARK COMPANIONS

would chat about it to the villagers. Then some
day, after some really remarkable act of cleverness
of mine, people would say, ' Ha ! this is not a dog.
No dog could have done that ! He must be a
demon — or a witch in a dog's hide ! ' and of course
they would take me and burn me."

" Why, how very unkind of you to think such
things of me ! When have I chatted about you ?
Indeed I have too many things to do, my house-
work, my planting and marketing so occupy me,
that I could not find time to gossip about my
dos;."

" Well, it is already notorious that I am clever,
and I often tremble when strangers look at and
admire me for fear some muddle-headed fellow will
fancy that he sees something else in me more than
unusual intelligence. What would they say, how-
ever, if they really knew how very sagacious I
am? The reputation that I possess has only come
through your affection for me, but I assure you
that I dread this excess of affection lest it should
end fatally for you and for me."

" But are you so much cleverer than you have
already shown yourself ? If I promise that I will
never speak of you to any person again, will you
help me more than you have done, if I am in
distress ? "

" You are a woman, and you could not prevent
yourself talking if you tried ever so hard."

the Story of kitinda and her wise dog 101

" Now, look you here, my dog. I vow to you
that no matter what you do that is strange, I wish
I may die, and that the first animal I meet may
kill me if I speak a word. You shall see now
that Kitinda will be as good as her word."

" Very well, I will take you at your word. I
am to serve you every time you need help, and if
you speak of my services to a soul, you are willing
to lose your life by the first animal you may
meet."

Thus they made a solemn agreement as they
travelled to market.

Kitinda sold her palm oil and fowls to great
advantage that day, and in exchange received
sleeping-mats, a couple of carved stools, a bag of
cassava flour, two large well-baked and polished
crocks, a bunch of ripe bananas, a couple of good
plantation hoes, and a big strong basket.

After the marketing was over she collected her
purchases together and tried to put them into the
basket, but the bio; crocks and carved stools were
a sore trouble to her. She could put the flour
and hoes and the bananas on top with the mats
for a cover very well, but the stools and the crocks
were a great difficulty.

Her dog in the meantime had been absent, and
had succeeded in killing a young antelope, and had
dragged it near her. He looked around and saw
that the market was over, and that the people had

lo2 my dark companions

returned to their own homes, while his mistress
had been anxiously planning how to pack her
property.

He heard her complain of her folly in buying
such cumbersome and weighty things^and ask her-
self how she was to reach home with them.

Pitying her in her trouble, the dog galloped
away and found a man empty-handed, before whom
he fawned and whose hands he licked, and being
patted he clung to his cloth with his teeth and
pulled him gently along — wagging his tail and
looking very amiable. He continued to do this
until the man, seeing Kitinda fretting over her
difficulty, understood what was wanted, and of-
fered to carry the stools and crocks at each end of
his long staff over his shoulders for a few of the
ripe bananas and a lodging. His assistance was
accepted with pleasure, and Kitinda was thus
enabled to reach her home, and on the way was
told by the man how it was that he had happened
to return to the market-place.

Kitinda was very much tempted there and then
to dilate upon her dog's well-known cleverness, but
remembered in time her promise not to boast of
him. When, however, she reached the village, and
the housewives came out of their houses, burning
to hear the news at the market, in her eagerness to
tell this one and then the other all that had hap-
pened to her, and all that she had seen and heard,

THE STORY OF KITINDA AND HER WISE DOG 103

she forgot her vow of the morning, and forthwith
commenced to relate the last wonderful trick of
her dog in dragging a man back to the market-
place to help her when she thought that all her
profit in trade would be lost, and when she was
just about to smash her nice crocks in her rage.

" HE TURNED, AND RAN INTO THE WOODS

The dog listened to her narrative, viewed the
signs of wonder stealing over the women's faces,
heard them call out to their husbands, saw the men

104 MY DARK COMPANIONS

advancing eagerly towards them, saw them all look
at him narrowly, heard one man exclaim, " That
cannot be a dog ! it is a demon within a dog's hide.
He "

But the dog had heard enough. He turned,
and ran into the woods, and was never more seen
in that village.

The next market-day came round, and Kitinda
took some more palm oil and a few fowls, and left
her home to dispose of them for some other do-
mestic needs. When about half way, her dog
came out of the wood, and after accusing her of
betraying him to her stupid countrymen, thus re-
turning evil for good, he sprang upon her and tore
her to pieces.

THE STORY OF THE PRINCE WHO
INSISTED ON POSSESSING THE MOON

IR," said Baruti, one
evening, " another
story came to my
mind to-day wliicli
\vras told to me a
long time ago by an
old man among the
Basoko. I doubt
whether you will
like it, but since
you wish to hear
another legend of
my country you
shall have the story as it was told to me."

The country now inhabited by the Basoko tribe
was formerly known as Bandimba. A king called
Bahanga was its sole ruler. He possessed a house-
ful of wives, but all his children were unfortunately
of the female sex, which he considered to be a great
grievance, and of which he frequently complained.
His subjects, on the other hand, were blessed with
more sons than daughters, and this fact increased

106 M? DARK COMPANIONS

the king's grief, and made him envy the meanest
of his subjects. One day, however, he married
Baniana, the youngest daughter of his principal
chief, and finally he became the father of a male
child, and was very happy, and his people rejoiced
in his happiness.

The prince grew up to be a marvel of strength
and beauty, and his father doted on him so much,
that he shared his power with the boy in a curious
manner. The king reserved authority over all the
married people, while the prince's subjects consisted
of those not yet mated. It thus happened that the
prince ruled over more people than his father,
for the children were, of course, more numerous
than the parents. But with all the honour con-
ferred upon him the prince was not happy. The
more he obtained, the more he wished to possess.
His eyes had but to see a thing to make him desire
its exclusive possession. Each day he preferred one
or more requests to his father, and because of his
great love for him, the king had not the heart to
refuse anything to him. Indeed, he was persuaded
to bestow so many gifts upon his son that he
reserved scarcely anything for himself.

One day the prince was playing with the youth
of his court, and after the sport retired to the
shade of a tree to rest, aud his companions sat
down in a circle at a respectful distance from him.
He then felt a gush of pride stealing over him as he

STORY OF THE PRINCE AND THE MOON 10?

thought of his great power, at the number and
variety of his treasures, and he cried out boastfully
that there never was a boy so great, so rich and so
favoured by his father, as he had become. " My
father," said he, " can deny me nothing. I have
only to ask, and it is given unto me."

Then one little slender boy with a thin voice
said, " It is true, prince. Your father has been
very good to you. He is a mighty king, and he is
as generous as he is great. Still, I know of one
thing that he cannot give you — and it is certain
that you will never possess it."

" What thing is that which I may not call my
own, when I see it — and what is it that is not in
the king's power to give me ? " asked the prince, in
a tone of annoyance.

" It is the moon," answered the little boy ; " and
you must confess yourself that it is beyond the
king's power to give that to you."

" Do you doubt it ? " asked the prince. " I say
to you that I shall possess it, and I will go now
and claim it from my father. I will not give him
any peace until he gives it to me."

Now it so happens that such treasures as are
already ours, we do not value so much as those
which we have not yet got. So it was with this
spoiled prince. The memory of the many gifts of
his father faded from his mind, and their value
was not to be compared with this new toy — the

i08 M* bAttk COMPANIONS

moon — which he had never thought of before and
which he now so ardently coveted.

He found the king discussing important matters
with the old men.

" Father," said he, " just now, while I was with
my companions I was taunted because I did not
have the moon among my toys, and it was said
that it was beyond your power to give it to me.
Now, prove this boy a liar, and procure the moon
for me, that I may be able to show it to them, and
glory in your gift."

" What is it you say, my son, you want the
moon ? " asked the astonished king.

" Yes. Do get it for me at once, won't you ? "

" But, my child, the moon is a long way up.
How shall we be ever able to reach it ? "

" I don't know ; but you have always been good
to me, and you surely would not refuse me this
favour, father?"

"I fear, my own, that we will not be able to
give you the moon."

" But, father, I must have it ; my life will not be
worth living without it. How may I dare to again
face my companions after my proud boast before
them of your might and goodness? There was but
one thing that yonder pert boy said I might not
have, and that was the moon. Now my soul is
bent upon possessing this moon, and you must
obtain it for me or I shall die."

STORY OF THE PRINCE AND THE MOON 109

"Nay, my son, speak not of death. It is an ngly
word, especially when connected with my prince
and heir. Do you not know yet that I live only
for your sake ? Let your mind be at rest. I will
collect all the wise men of the land together, and
ask them to advise me. If they say that the moon
can be reached and brought down to us, you shall
have it."

Accordingly the great state drum was sounded
for the general palaver, and a score of criers went
through the towns beating their little drums as they
went, and the messengers hastened all the wise men
and elders to the presence of the king.

When all were assembled, the king announced
his desire to know how the moon could be reached,
and whether it could be shifted from its place in
the sky and brought down to the earth, in order
that he might give it to his only son the prince.
If there was any wise man present who could in-
form him how this could be done, and would
undertake to bring it to him, he would give the
choicest of his daughters in marriage to him and
endow him with great riches.

When the wise men heard this strange proposal,
they were speechless with astonishment, as no one
in the Basoko Land had ever heard of anybody
mounting into the air higher than a tree, and to
suppose that a person could ascend as high as the
moon was, they thought, simple madness. Respect

110 MY DARK COMPANIONS

for the king, however, held them mute, though
what their glances meant was very clear.

But while each man was yet looking at his
neighbour in wonder, one of the wise men, who
appeared to be about the youngest present, rose to
his feet and said :

" Long life to the prince and to his father, the
king ! We have heard the words of our king, Ba-
hanga, and they are good. I — even I — his slave,
am able to reach the moon, and to do the king's
pleasure, if the king's authority will assist me."

The confident air of the man, and the ring of
assurance in his voice made the other wise men,
who had been so ready to believe the king and
prince mad, feel shame, and they turned their
faces to him curiously, more than half willing
to believe that after all the thing was possible.
The king also lost his puzzled look, and appeared
relieved.

"Say on. How may you be able to perform
what you promise ? "

" If it please the king," answered the man,
boldly, " I will ascend from the top of the high
mountain near the Cataract of Panga, But I shall
first build a high scaffold on it, the base of which
shall be as broad as the mountain top, and on that
scaffold I will build another, and on the second I
shall build a third, and so on and so on until my
shoulder touches the moon."

STORY OF THE PRINCE AND THE MOON \\\

"But is it possible to- reach the moon in this
manner ? " asked the king doubtingly.

"Most certainly, if I were to erect a sufficient
number of scaffolds, one above another, but it
will require a vast quantity of timber, and a great
army of workmen. If the king commands it, the
work will be done."

" Be it so, then," said the king. " I place at
your service every able-bodied man in the king-
dom."

"Ah, but all the men in your kingdom are not
sufficient, O king. All the grown-up men will be
wanted to fell the trees, square the timber and
bear it to the works ; and every grown-up woman
will be required to prepare the food for the work-
men ; and every boy must carry water to satisfy
their thirst, and bark rope for the binding of the
timbers; and every girl, big and little, must be
sent to till the fields to raise cassava for food.
Only in this manner can the prince obtain the
moon as his toy."

"I say, then, let it be done as you think it
ought to be done. All the men, women, and chil-
dren in the kingdom I devote to this service, that
my only son may enjoy what he desires."

Then it was proclaimed throughout the wide
lands of the Bandimba that all the people should
be gathered together to proceed at once with the
work of obtaining the moon for the king's son.

112

MY DARK COMPANIONS

And the forest was cut down, and while some of
the workmen squared the trees, others cut deep
holes in the ground, to make a broad and sure
base for the lower scaffold; and the boys made
thousands of rope coils to lash the timbers
together, out of bark, fibre of palm, and tough
grass ; and the girls, big and little, hoed up the
ground and planted the cassava shrubs and cut-

"THE women kneaded the bread."

tings from the banana and
the corn ; and the women

cooked the

greens,

and

for food for the workmen,
people were made to slave
that a spoiled boy might
toy.

In a few days the first scaffolding stood up as

the plantain, and sowed
kneaded the bread and
roasted green bananas
And all the Bandimba
hard every day in order
have the moon for his

STORY OF THE PRINCE AND THE MOON 113

high as the tallest trees, in a few weeks the struct-
ure had grown until it was many arrow-flights in
height, in two months it was so lofty that the top
could not be seen with the naked eye. The fame
of the wonderful wooden tower that the Bandimba
were building was carried far and wide ; and the
friendly nations round about sent messengers to
see and report to them what mad thing the Ban-
dimba were about, for rumour had spread so many
contrary stories among people that strangers did
not know what to believe. Some said it was true
that all the Bandimba had become mad ; but some
of those who came to see with their own eyes,
laughed, while others began to feel anxious. All,
however, admired the bigness, and wondered at
the height of the tower.

In the sixth month the top of the highest
scaffold was so high that on the clearest day
people could not see half-way up; and it was said
to be so tall that the chief engineer could tell the
day he would be able to touch the moon.

The work went on, and at last the engineer
passed the word down that in a few days more it
would be finished. Everybody believed him, and
the nations round about sent more people to be
present to witness the completion of the great
tower, and to observe what would happen. In
all the land, and the countries adjoining it, there
was found only one wise man who foresaw, if the

114

MY DARK COMPANIONS

moon was shifted out of its place what damage
would happen, and that probably all those foolish
people in the vicinity of the tower would be
destroyed. Fearing some terrible calamity, he
proposed to depart from among the Bandimba
before it should be too late. He then placed his
family in a canoe, and, after storing it with

IN THE N1UHT FLOATED DOWN THE ARUWIMI.

sufficient provisions, he embarked, and in the
night he floated down the river Aruwimi and into
the big river, and continued his journey night and
day as fast as the current would take him — far,
far below any lands known to the Bandimba.
A week later, after the flight of the wise man

sto&t op the prince and the moon 115

and his family, the chief engineer sent down
word to the king that he was ready to take the
moon down.

" It is well," replied the king from below. " I
will ascend, that I may see how you set about it."

Within twenty days the king reached the
summit of the tower, and, standing at last by
the side of the engineer, he laid his hand upon
the moon, and it felt exceedingly hot. Then he
commanded the engineer to proceed to take it
down. The man put a number of cool bark coils
over his shoulder and tried to dislodge it ; but, as
it was firmly fixed, he used such a deal of force
that he cracked it, and there was an explosion, the
fire and sparks from which scorched him. The
timber on which the king and his chiefs were
standing began to burn, and many more bursting
sounds were heard, and fire and melted rock ran
down through the scaffolding in a steady stream,
until all the woodwork was ablaze, and the flames
soared upward among the uprights and trestles of
the wood in one vast pile of fire ; and every man,
woman, and child was utterly consumed in a
moment. And the heat was so great that it
affected the moon, and a large portion of it
tumbled to the earth, and its flowing hot materials
ran over the ground like a great river of fire, so
that most of the country of the Bandimba was
burnt to ashes. On those who were not smothered

116 MY DARK COMPANIONS

by the smoke, nor burnt by the fire, and who fled
from before the burning river, the effect was
very wonderful. Such of them as were grown
up, male and female, were converted into gorillas,
and all the children into different kinds of long-
tailed monkeys.

The old man who told me this story ended by
saying to us, who listened with open mouth to his
words :

" Friends, if you doubt the truth of what I have
said, all you have to do is to look at the moon
when it is full, and you may then see on a clear
night a curious dark portion on its face, which often
appears as though there were peaky mountains in
it, and often the dark spots are like some kind of
horned animals ; and then again, you will often
fancy that on the moon you see the outlines of a
man's face, but those dark spots are only the holes
made in the moon by the man who forced his shoul-
ders through it. By this you will know that I have
not lied unto you. Now ever since that dreadful
day when the moon burst and the Bandimba coun-
try was consumed, parents are not in the habit of
granting children all they ask for, but only such
things as their age and experience warn them are
good for their little ones. And when little chil-
dren will not be satisfied by such things, but fret
and pester their parents to give them what they
know will be harmful to them, then it is a custom

STORY OF THE PRINCE AND THE MOON 119

with all wise people to take the rod to them, to
drive out of their heads the wicked thoughts."

" But, Baruti," said a Zanzibari who believed
the story, for had he not often viewed the dark
spots on the moon, " what became of Bahanga and
the little prince ? "

" Why, after the engineer of the works, the first
who died were the king and the prince whose folly
had brought ruin on the land."

HOAV KIMYERA BECAME KING OF
UGANDA*

rADU was a native
lad of Ugand a,
who having made
blood - brotherhood
with a young Zan-
zibari of his own
age, asked permis-
sion to join our ex-
pedition of 1874-
77. He survived
the perils of the
descent of the Congo, and in 1879 enlisted again,
and served faithfully another term of three years
in Africa. He afterwards joined Mr. H. H. John-
ston on his visit to Kilimanjaro, and proved him-
self as devoted to him as he had been for seven
years to me. It was while road-making along the
banks of the Congo, after becoming thoroughly
conversant with the Zanzibari vernacular, that he
entertained us with his remarkable legends. Next

* Republished from the "Fortnightly" through the kindness of
its Editor and Proprietors.

HOW KIMYERA BECAME KING OF UGANDA 121

to his countryman Sabadu he was the most enter-
taining.

One of the first tales he related to us was about
Kimyera, a king of Uganda, who by his exploits
in hunting deserves to be called the Nimrod of
that country. It ran as follows : —

Many ages ago'Uni reigned as king over
Unyoro, a great country which lies to the north
and west of Uganda, One day he took to wife
Wanyana, a woman of the neighbouring kingdom,
who on the first night she had been taken into the
inner harem manifested a violent aversion for his
person. At that time a man named Kalimera, who
was a dealer in cattle, was visiting the court, and had
already resided some months there as an honoured
guest of the king, on account of his agreeable
manners, and his accomplishments on the flute.
During his stay he had not failed to note the
beauty of the young women who were permitted to
crowd around him while he played ; but it had long
been observed that he had been specially attracted
by the charms of Wanyana. It was whispered by
a few of the more maliciously disposed among the
women that a meeting had taken place, and that
an opportunity had been found by them to inform
each other of their mutual passion. However that
may be, King Uni, surprised at the dislike which
she manifested towards him, forbore pressing her
for the time? trustfully believing that her senti-

122 MY DARK COMPANIONS

rnents would change for the better after a more
intimate acquaintance with him. Meantime he
built for her a separate apartment, and palisaded
its court closely around with thick cane. His
visits were paid to her on alternate days, and each
time he brought some gift of Jbead or bark cloth,
or soft, furry hide, in the hope of winning her
favour.

In time she discovered that she was pregnant,
and, fearing King Uni's wrath, she made a compact
with him that if he would abstain from visiting
her for one month she would repay his kindness
with all affection. Uni gladly consented to this
proposal, and confined his attentions to sending
his pages with daily greetings and gifts. Mean-
time she endeavoured through her own servants
to communicate with Kalimera, her lover, but,
though no effort on her part was wanting, she
could gain no news of him, except a report that
soon after she had entered the harem of Uni,
Kalimera had disappeared.

In a few days she was delivered of a fine male
child, but as she would undoubtedly be slain by
the king if the child was discovered, she departed
by night with it, and laid it, clad in fur adorned
with fine bead-work, at the bottom of a potter's
pit. She then hastened to a soothsayer in the
neighbourhood, and bribed him to contrive in some
way to receive and rear her child until he could be

HOW KIMYERA BECAME KING OF UGANDA 123

claimed. Satisfied with his assurance that the
child would be safe, Wanyana returned to her
residence at the court in the same secret manner
that she had left it.

Next morning Mugema, the potter, was seen pass-
ing the soothsayer's door, and was hailed by the
great witch-finder.

" Mugema," said he, " thy pots are now made of
rotten clay. They are not at all what they used
to be. They now crumble in the hand. Tell me
why is this ? "

" Ah, doctor, it is just that. I thought to bribe
thee to tell me, only I did not wish to disturb
thee."

" It is well, Mugema ; I will tell thee why.
Thou hast an enemy who wishes evil to thee, but
I will defeat his projects. Haste thou to thy pit,
and whatever living thing thou findest there, keep
it, and rear it kindly. While it lives thou art safe
from all harm."

Wondering at this news, Mugema departed from
the soothsayer's house, and proceeded to the pit
where he obtained his clay. Peering softly over
the edge of the pit, he saw a bundle of bark cloth
and fur. From its external appearance he could
hot guess what this bundle might contain, but,
fearing to disturb it by any precipitate movement,
he silently retreated from the pit, and sped away
to tell his wife, as he was in duty bound, and

124 MY DARK COMPANIONS

obtain her advice and assistance, for the wife in all
such matters is safer than the man. His wife on
hearing this news cried out at him, saying :

" Why, what a fool thou art ! Why didst thou
not do as the soothsayer commanded thee ? Come,
I will go with thee at once, for my mind is trou-
bled with a dream which I had last night, and this
thing thou tellest me may have a weighty meaning
for us both."

Mugema and his wife hurried together towards
the clay -pit, and as her husband insisted on it, she
crept silently to its edge to look down. At that
moment the child uttered a ciy and moved the
clothes which covered it.

" Why, it is a babe," cried the woman ; " just
as I found it in my dream. Hurry, Mugema.
Descend quickly, and bring it up to me ; and take
care not to hurt it."

Mugema wondered so much at his wife's words
that he almost lost his wits, but being pushed into
the pit he mechanically obeyed, and brought up the
bundle and its living occupant, which he handed
to his wife without uttering a word.

On opening the bundle there was discovered
the form of a beautiful and remarkably lusty child,
of such weight, size, and form, that the woman
exclaimed :

" Oh ! Mugema, was ever anybody's luck like
this of ours ? My very heart sighed for a child

MOW KIMYERA BECAME KINO OF UGASDA 125

that I could bring up to be our joy, and here the
good spirits have given us the pick of all the
world. Mugema, thy fortune is made."

" But whose child is it ? " asked Mugema,
suspiciously.

"How can I tell thee that? Hadst thou not
brought the news to me of it being in the pit, I
should have been childless all my life. The sooth-
sayer who directed thee hither is a wise man. He
knows the secret, I warrant him. But come,
Mugema, drop these silly thoughts. What sayest
thou ? shall we rear the child, or leave it here to
perish ? "

" All right, wife. If it prove of joy to thee, I
shall live content."

Thus it was that the child of Wanyana found
foster-parents, and no woman in Unyoro could be
prouder of her child than Mugema's wife came to
be of the foundling. The milk of woman, goat, and
cow was given to him, and he throve prodigiously ;
and when Mugema asked the soothsayer what
name would be fittest for him, the wise man said :

" Call him Kimyera — the mighty one."

Some months after this, when Kimyera was
about a year old, Wanyana came to the potter's
house to purchase pots for her household, and
while she was seated in the porch selecting the
soundest among them, she heard a child crying
within.

126 MY DARK COMPANIONS

" Ah, has thy wife had a child lately ? I did not
observe or hear when I last visited thee that she
was likely to become a mother."

" No, princess," replied Mugema ; " that is the
cry of a child I discovered in the clay-pit about a
year ago."

Wanyana's heart gave a great jump, and for a
moment she lost all recollection of where she was.
Recovering herself with a great effort, she bade
Musrema tell her all about the incident : but while
he related the story, she was busy thinking how
she might assure herself of his secrecy if she
declared herself to be the mother of the child.

Mugema, before concluding his story, did not
fail to tell Wanyana how for a time he had sus-
pected his wife of having played him falsely, and
that though he had no grounds for the suspicion
further than that the clay -pit was his own and the
child had been found in it, he was not quite clear
in his mind yet, and he would be willing to slave a
long time for any person who could thoroughly
disabuse his mind of the doubt, as, with that ex-
ception, his wife was the cleverest and best woman
in Unyoro.

Wanyana, perceiving her opportunity, said :

" Well, much as I affected not to know about
the child, I know whose child it is, and who placed
it in the pit."

" Thou, princess ! " he cried.

MOW KIMYERA BECAME KINO OF UGANDA 12?

"Yes, and, if thou wilt take an oath upon the
great Muzimu to keep it secret, I will disclose the
name of the mother."

" Thou hast my assurance of secrecy upon the
condition that the child is not proved to be my
wife's. Whosoever else's it may be, matters not to
me ; the child was found, and is mine by right of
the finder. Now name the mother, princess."

" Wanyana ! "

" Thine ? "

" Even so. It is the offspring of fond love, and
Kalimera of Uganda is his father. The young
man belongs to one of the four royal clans of
Uganda, called the Elephant clan. He is the
youngest son of the late king of Uganda. To him,
on his father's death, fell his mother's portion, a
pastoral district rich in cattle not far from the fron-
tier of Unyoro. It was while he drove fat herds
here for sale to Uni that he saw and loved me, and
I knew him as my lord. Dreading the king's
anger, he fled, and I was left loveless in the power
of Uni. One night the child was born, and in the
darkness I crept out of the king's court, and bore
the babe to thy pit. To the wise man I confided
the secret of that birth. Thou knowest the rest."

" Princess, my wife never appeared fairer to me
than she does now, and I owe the clear eye to thee.
Rest in peace. My wife loves the babe, let her
nurse it until happier times, and I will guard it

128 MY DARK COMPANIONS

safe as though it were mine own. Ay, the babe, I
feel assured, will pay me well when he is grown.
The words of the wise man come home to me now,
and I see whereby good luck shall come to all. If
bone and muscle can make a king, Kimyera's future
is sure. But come in to see my wife, and to her
discretion and wisdom confide thy tale frankly."

Wanyana soon was hanging over her child, and,
amid tears of joy, she made Mugema's wife ac-
quainted with his birth, and obtained from her
earnest assurance that he would be tenderly cared
for, and her best help in any service she could
perform for Kimyera and his mother.

Great friendship sprang up between Princess
Wanyana and the potter Mugema and his wife,
and she found frequent excuses for visiting the
fast-crowing child.

Through the influence of the princess, the potter
increased in riches, and his herds multiplied ; and
when Kimyera was grown tall and strong, he was
entrusted by his foster-father with the care of the
cattle, and he gave him a number of strong youths
as assistants. With these Kimyera indulged in
manly games, until he became wonderfully dex-
terous in casting the spear, and drawing the bow,
and in wrestling. His swiftness exceeded that of
the fleetest antelope ; no animal of the plain could
escape him when he gave chase. His courage,
proved in the defence of his charge, became a

HOW KIMYERA BECAME KING OF UGANDA 129

proverb among all who knew him. If the cry of
the herdsman warned him that a beast sought to
prey upon the cattle, Kimyera never lost time to
put himself in front, and, with spear and arrow,
he often became victor.

With the pride becoming the possessor of so
many admirable qualities, he would drive his herds
right through the corn-fields of the villagers, and
to all remonstrances he simply replied that the
herds belonged to Wanyana, favourite wife of Uni.
The people belonged to her also, as well as their
corn, and who could object to Wanyana's cattle
eating Wanyana's corn ?

As his reputation for strength and courage was
well known, the villagers then submissively per-
mitted him to do as he listed.

As he grew up in might and valour, Uni's re-
gards cooled towards Wanyana, and, as she was
not permitted that freedom formerly enjoyed by
her, her visits to Kimyera ceased. Mugema sym-
pathised with the mother, and contrived to send
Kimyera with pots to sell to the people of the
court, with strict charge to discover every piece
of news relating to the Princess Wanyana. The
mother's heart dilated with pride every time she
saw her son, and she contrived in various ways to
lengthen the interview. And each time he re-
turned to his home he carried away some gift from
Wanyana, such as leopard-skins, strings of beast

130 MY DARK COMPANIONS

claws, beads, and crocodile-teeth, girdles of white
monkey-skin, parcels of ground ochre, or cam-
wood, or rare shells, to show Mugema and his
wife. And often he used to say, "Wanyana
bade me ask you to accept this gift from her as a
token of her esteem," showing them similar
articles.

His mother's presents to him in a short time
enabled him to purchase two fine large dogs — one
was black as charcoal, which was named by him
Msigissa, or " Darkness," the other was white as
a cotton tuft, and called Sema-girnbi, or " Wood-
burr." You must know that it is because of the
dog Darkness, that the Baboon clan of Uganda
became so attached to black dogs, by which they
perpetuate the memory of Kimyera.

When he had become the owner of Darkness and
Wood-burr, he began to absent himself from home
for longer periods, leaving the herds in charge of
the herdsmen. With these he explored the plains,
and hills, and woods to a great distance from his
home. Sometimes he would be absent for weeks,
causing great anxiety to his kind foster-parents.
The further he went the more grew his passion to
know what lay beyond the furthest ridge he saw,
which, when discovered, he would be again
tempted to explore another that loomed in the
far distance before him. With every man he met
he entered into conversation, and obtained a

110W KIMYERA BECAME KING OF UGANDA 131

various knowledge of things of interest relating to
the country, the people, and the chiefs. In this
manner before many months he had a wide know-
ledge of every road and river, village and tribe,
in the neighbouring lands.

On his return from these daring excursions, he
would be strictly questioned by Mugema and his
wife as to what he had been doing, but he evaded
giving the entire truth by rehearsing the hunting
incidents that attended his wanderings, so that they
knew not the lands he had seen, nor the distances
that he travelled. However, being uneasy in their
minds they communicated to Wanyana all that
was related to them and all they suspected.
Wanyana then sought permission to pay a visit
to the potter and his wife, and during the visit she
asked Kimyera, " Pray tell me, my son, whither
dost thou travel on these long journeys of thine
to seek for game ? "

" Oh ! I travel far through woods, and over
grassy hills and plains."

" But is it in the direction of sunrise, or sunset,
is it north or is it south of here ? "

To which he replied : " I seek game generally
in the direction whence the sun rises."

" Ah ! " said Wanyana. " In that way lies
Ganda, where thy father lives, and whence he
came in former days to exchange cattle for salt
and hoes."

132 MY DARK COMPANIONS

" My father ! What may be my father's name,
mother ? "

" Kalimera."

" And where did he live ? "

" His village is called Willimera, and is near the
town of Bakka."

" Bakka ! I know the town, for in some of my
journeys I entered a long way into Uganda, and
have chased the leopard in the woods that border
the stream called Myanja, and over the plains
beyond the river many an antelope has fallen a
victim to my spear."

"It is scarcely credible, my son."

" Nay, but it is true, mother."

" Then thou must have been near Willimera in
that case, and it is a pity that thou shouldst not
have seen thy father, and been received by him."

A few days later Kimyera slung his knitted
haversack over his shoulder, and with shield, two
spears, and his faithful dogs Darkness and Wood-
burr, he strode out of the potter's house, and set
his face once more towards the Myanja river. At
the first village across the stream he questioned
the natives if they knew Willimera, and was told
that it was but eight hours east. The next day
he arrived, and travelled round the village, and
rested that night at the house of one of the herds-
men of Kalimera. He made himself very agree-
able to his host, and from him he received the

HOW KIMYERA BECAME KINO OF UGANDA 133

fullest information of all matters relating to his
father.

The next day he began his return to Unyoro,
which he reached in two weeks. He told Mugema
and his foster-mother of his success, and they sent
a messenger to apprise Wanyana that Kimyera
had returned home.

KIMYERA SETTING OUT FOR UOANUA.

Wanyana, impatient to learn the news, arrived
that night at Mugema's house, and implored Kim-
yera to tell her all that he had heard and seen.

134 MY DARK COMPANIONS

" In brief, it is this," replied Kimyera. " I now
know to a certainty where Kalimera lives. I have
gone round the village, I know how many natives
are in it, how many herds of cattle, and how many
herdsmen and slaves he has. Kalimera is well.
All these I learned from one of his chief herdsmen
with whom I rested a night. I came here straight
to let thee and my foster-parents know it."

" It is very well, my son. Now, Mugema, it is
time to move," she said to the potter. " Uni daily
becomes more intolerable to me. I never have yet
mated with him as his wife, and I have been true
to the one man who seemed to me to be the comeli-
est of his kind. Now that I know Kalimera lives,
my heart has gone to him, though my body is here.
Mugema, speak, my friend."

" Wanyana, my wit is slow and my tongue is
heavy. Thou knowest my circumstances. I have
one wife, but many cattle. The two cows, Namala
and Nakaombeh, thou gavest me first, I possess
still. Their milk has always been abundant and
sweet. Namala has sufficed to nourish Kimyera
into perfect lustiness and strength; Nakaombeh
gives more than will feed my wife and I. Let
Kimyera take his flute, his dogs, Darkness and
Wood-burr, his spears and shield ; Sebarija, my
cowherd, who taught Kimyera the flute, will also
take his flute and staff, and drive Namala and
Nakaombeh. My wife will carry a few furs, some

HOW KIMYERA BECAME KING OF UGANDA 135

of the spoils won by Kimyera's prowess ; and,
lo ! I and my family will follow Wanyana."

" A true friend thou hast been to me and mine,
Mugema ! We will hence before dawn. In Willi-
mera thou shalt receive tenfold what thou leavest
here. The foundling of the clay-pit has grown tall
and strong, and at last he has found the way to
his father and his father's kindred."

And as Wanyana advised, the journey was
undertaken that night, and before the sun arose
Wanyana, Mugema and his wife, the slave Sebarija
driving the two cows, Namala and Nakaombeh,
were far on their way eastward, Kimyera and his
two dogs, Darkness and Wood-burr, preceding the
emigrants and guiding the way.

The food they took with them sustained them
for two days ; but on the third day they saw a
lonely buffalo, and Kimyera, followed by Mugema
and Sebarija, chased him. The buffalo was un-
commonly wild, and led them a long chase, far out
of sight of the two women. Then Mugema reflected
that they had done wrong in thus leaving the two
women alone, and called out to Sebarijo to hurry
back, and to look after the women and two cows.
Not long after, Darkness fastened his fangs in the
buffalo, until Wood-burr came up and assisted him
to bring it to the ground, and there they held him
until Kimyera gave him his death-stroke. The
two men loaded themselves with the meat, and

136 my dark companions

returned to the place where they had left, but
alas ! they found no traces of the two women, nor
of Sebarija and the two cows.

Day after day Kimyera and Mugema hunted all
around the country for news of the missing party,
until, finally, to their great sorrow, they were
obliged to abandon the search, and came to the
conclusion that it was best for them to continue
their journey and trust to chance for the knowledge
they desired.

Near Ganda another buffalo was sighted by
Kimyera, and, bidding Mugema remain at the
first house he came to, he went after it with his
dogs. The buffalo galloped far, and near noon he
stood still under the shelter of a rock. Kimyera
bounded to the top, and, exerting all his strength,
he shot his spear clean through the back of the
animal. That rock is still shown to strangers as
the place where Kimyera killed the first game in
Uganda, and even the place where he stood may
be seen by the marks of his feet which were im-
pressed on it. While resting on the rock he saw
a woman pass near by with a gourd of water. He
called out to her, and begged for a drop to allay
his thirst. She smilingly complied, as the stran-
ger was comely and his manner pleasant. They
entered into conversation, during which he learned
that she belonged to Ganda, and served as maid
to Queen Naku, wife of Sebwana, and that Naku

HOW KIMYERA BECAME KINO OF UGANDA 137

was kiud to strangers, and was famed for her
hospitality to them.

" Dost thou think she will be kind to me ? "
asked Kimyera. " I am a native of Unyoro, and I
am seeking a house where I may rest."

KIMYERA ASKFXO FOR WATER.

To which the maid replied : " It is the custom
of Naku, and, indeed, of all the princes of Ganda,
to entertain the stranger since, in the far olden
times, the first prince settled in this laud in which
he was a stransrer. But what may that be which
is secured in thy girdle ? "

" That is a reed flute on which I imitate when
alone the songs of such birds as sound sweetest to
me."

138 MY DARK COMPANIONS

" And art thou clever at it ? " asked the maid.

" Be thou judge," he said ; and forthwith blew
on his flute until the maid marvelled greatly.

When he had ended, she clapped her hands
gaily and said :

" Thou wilt be more than welcome to Naku and
her people. Haste and follow me that I may show
thee to her, for thy fortune is made."

" Nay. I have a companion not far from here,
and I must not lose him. But thou mayest say
thou hast met a stranger who, when he has found
his friend, will present himself before Queen Naku
and Sebwana before sunset."

The maid withdrew and Kimyera rose, and cut-
ting a large portion of the meat he retraced his
steps, and sought and found Mugema, to whom he
told all his adventures.

After washing the stains of travel and refreshing
themselves, they proceeded into the village to the
residence of the queen and her consort Sebwana.
Naku was prepared by the favourable reports of
the maid to receive Kimyera kindly, but when she
saw his noble proportions and handsome figure she
became violently in love with him, and turning to
Sebwana she said :

" See now, we have guests of worth and breed-
ing. They must have travelled from a far land,
for I have heard of no tribe which could boast of
such a youth as this. Let us receive him and his

nOW KIMYERA BECAME KING OF UGANDA 139

old friend nobly. Let a house close by our own
be made ready for his lodging, and let it be fur-
nished with abundance of food, with wine * and
milk, bananas and yams, water and fuel, and let
nothing be lacking* to show our esteem for them."

Sebwana gave orders accordingly and proceeded
to select a fit house as a lod<nno; for the quests.

Then Naku said : " I hear that thou art skilled
in music. If that is the instrument in thy girdle
with which thou hast delighted my maid, I should
be pleased to hear thee."

" Yes, Queen Naku, it is my flute ; and if my
music will delight thee, my best efforts are at thy
service."

Then Kimyera, kneeling on the leopard skins
placed for the convenience of himself and Mu-
gema, took out his flute, and after one or two
flourishes, poured forth such melodious sounds that
Naku, unable to keep her eyes open, closed them
and lay down with panting breasts, while her
senses were filled as it were with dreams of hap-
pier lands, and faces of brighter people than ever
she knew in real life. As he varied the notes, so
varied the gladsome visions of her mind. When
the music gently vibrated on her ears, her body
palpitated under the influence of the emotions
which swayed her ; when they became more enliv-
ened she tossed her arms about, and laughed con-

* Banana wine.

140 MY DARK COMPANIONS

vulsively ; and when the notes took a solemn tone,
she sighed and wept as though all her friends had
left her only their tender memory. Grieved that
Naku should suffer, Kimyera woke the queen
from her sorrowful condition with tones that soon
started her to her feet, and lo, all at once, those
who Avere present joined in the lively dance, and
nothing but gay laughter was heard from them.
Oh, it was wonderful what quick changes came
over people as they heard the flute of Kimyera.
When he ceased people began to look at one an-
other in a foolish and confused way, as though
something very strange had happened to them.

But Naku quickly recovered, and went to
Kimyera, smiling and saying:

" It is for thee to command, O Kimyera. To
resist thy flute would be impossible. Again wel-
come to Ganda, and we shall see if we cannot keep
thee and thy flute amongst us."

She conducted Kimyera and his foster-father
Mugema to their house. She examined carefully
the arrangements made by the slaves, and when
she found anything amiss she corrected it with
her own hands. Before she parted from them she
called Mugema aside, and questioned him further
respecting the youth, by which means she obtained
many interesting particulars concerning him.

On arriving at her own house she called all the
pages of the court to her, and gave orders that if

BOW KIM YUBA BECAME KING OF UGANDA 141

Sebwana told them to convey such and such things
to the strangers next day, that none of them
should do so, but carry them to the rear court
where only women were admitted.

In consequence of this command Mugema and
Kimyera found themselves deserted next day, and
not one person went near them. Mugema there-
fore sought an interview the day after with Queen
Naku and said :

" The custom of this country seems strange to
us, 0 Queen. On the first day we came thy
favours showered abundance on us, but on the next
not a single person showed his face to us. Had
we been in a wilderness we could not have been
more alone. It is possible that we may have
offended thee unknown to ourselves. Pray ac-
quaint us with our offence, or permit us to depart
at once from Ganda."

"Nay, Mugema, I must ask thee to be patient.
Food ye shall have in abundance, through my
women, and much more is in store for ye. But
come, I will visit the young stranger, and thou
shalt lead me to him."

Kimyera had been deep in thought ever since
he had parted from Naku, and he had not ob-
served what Mugema had complained of ; but on
seeing Naku enter his house, he hasted and laid
matting on the floor, and, covering it with leopard
skins, begged Naku to be seated on them. He

142 MY DARK COMPANIONS

brought fresh banana-leaves in his arras, and
spread them near her, on which he arranged meat
and salt, and bananas and clotted milk, and
kneeled before her like a ready servitor.

Naku observed all his movements, her admira-
tion for his person and graces of body becoming
stronger every minute. She peeled a mellow ba-
nana and handed it to him, saying, " Let Kirn-
yera taste and eat with me, and I will then know
that I am in the house of a friend."

Kimyera accepted the gift with thanks, and ate
the banana as though he had never eaten anything
so delicious in his life. Then he also peeled a
beautiful and ripe banana, and, presenting it to
her on a fragment of green leaf with both hands,
said to her :

" Queen Naku, it is the custom of my country
for the master of the house to wait upon his
guests. Wherefore accept, O Queen, this banana
as a token of friendship from the hands of Kim-
yera."

The queen smiled, bent forward with her eyes
fixed on his own, and took the yellow fruit, and
ate it as though such sweetness was not known in
the banana land of Ganda.

When she had eaten she said :

"List, Kimyera, and thou, Mugema, hearken
well, for I am about to utter weighty words. In
Ganda, since the death of my father, there has

HOW KIMYERA BECAME KINO OF UGANDA 143

been no king. Sebwana is my consort by choice
of the elders of the land, but in name only. He
is really only my hate-hiro (Premier). But I am
now old enough to choose a king for myself, and
according to custom, I may do so. Wherefore I
make known to thee, Mugema, that I have already
chosen my lord and husband, and he by due right
must occupy the chair of my father, the old king
who is dead. I have said to myself since the day
before yesterday that my lord and husband shall
be Kimyera."

Both Kimyera and Mugema prostrated them-
selves three times before Naku, and, after the
youth had recovered from his confusion and sur-
prise, he replied :

" But, Queen Naku, hast thou thought what the
people will say to this ? May it not be that they
will ask, 'Who is this stranger that he should
reign over us ? ' and they will be wroth with me
and try to slay me ? "

" Nay. For thou art my father's brother's son,
as Mugema told me, and my father having left no
male heirs of his body, his daughter may, if she
choose, ally herself with a son of his brother.
Kalimera is a younger brother of my father.
Thou seest, therefore, that thou, Kimyera, hast a
right to the king's chair, if I, Naku, will it to
be so."

" And how, Naku, dost thou propose to act ? In

144 MY DARK COMPANIONS .

thy cause my arm is ready to strike. Thou hast
but to speak."

" In this way. I will now leave thee, for I have
some business for Sebwana. When he has gone
I will then send for thee, and thou, when thou
comest to me, must say, ' Naku, I have come.
What can Kimyera do for Queen Naku ? ' And I
will rise and say, 'Kimyera, come and seat thyself
in thy father's brother's chair.' And thou wilt
step forward, bow three times before me, then six
times before the king's chair, and, with thy best
spear in hand and shield on arm, thou wilt pro-
ceed to the king's chair, and turning to the people
who will be present, say in a loud voice thus : • Lo,
people of Ganda, I am Kimyera, son of Kalimera,
by Wanyana of Unyoro. I hereby declare that
with her own free will I this day do take Naku,
my father's brother's daughter, to wife, and seat
myself in the king's chair. Let all obey, on pain
of death, the king's word.' "

" It is well, Naku ; be it according to thy wish,"
replied Kimyera.

Naku departed and proceeded in search of
Sebwana ; and, when she found him, she affected
great distress and indignation.

" How is this, Sebwana ? I gave orders that
our guests should be tenderly cared for and sup-
plied with every needful thing. But I find, on
inquiring this morning, that all through yesterday

HOW KIM VERA BECAME KINO OF UGANDA 145

they were left alone to wonder at our sudden dis-
regard for their wants. Haste, rny friend, and
make amends for thy neglect. Go to my fields
and plantations, collect all that is choicest for our
guests, lest, when they leave us, they will proclaim
our unkindness."

Sebwana was amazed at this charge of neglect,
and in anger hastened to find out the pages. But
the pages, through Naku's good care, absented
themselves, and could not be found ; so that old
Sebwana was obliged to depend upon a few
unarmed slaves to drive the cattle and carry the
choicest treasures of the queen's fields and planta-
tions for the use of the strangers.

Sebwana having at last left the town, Naku
returned to Kimyera, whom she found with a sad
and disconsolate aspect.

" Why, what ails thee, Kimyera ? " she asked.
" The chair is now vacant. Arm thyself and follow
me to the audience court." -

" Ah, Naku ! I but now remembered that as
yet I know not whether my mother and good
nurse are alive or dead. They may be waiting for
me anxiously somewhere near the Myanja, or their
bones may be bleaching on one of the great plains
we traversed in coming hither."

" Nay, Kimyera, my lord, this is not a time for
mourning. Bethink thee of the present needs first.
The chair of the king awaits thee. Rise, and
10

146 MY DARK COMPANIONS

occupy it, and to-morrow all Granda is at thy
service to find thy lost mother and nurse. Come,
delay not, lest Sebwana return and take vengeance
on us all."

" Fear not, Naku, it was but a passing fit of grief
which filled my mind. Sebwana must needs be
strong and brave to dispossess me when Naku is
on my side," saying which Kimyera dressed himself
in war-costume, with a crown of cock's tail feathers
on his head, a great leopard skin depending from
his neck down his back, a girdle of white monkey
skin round his waist, his body and face brilliantly
painted with vermilion and saffron. He then
armed himself with two bright shining spears of
great length, and bearing a shield of dried elephant
hide, which no ordinary spear could penetrate, he
strode after Queen Naku towards the audience
court in the royal palace. Mugema, somewhat
similarly armed, followed his foster-son.

As Kimyera strode proudly on, the great drum
of Ganda sounded, and its deep tones were heard
far and wide. Immediately the populace, who
knew well that the summons of the great drum
announced an important event, hastily armed
themselves, and filled the great court. Naku, the
queen, they found seated in a chair alongside of
the king's chair, which was now unfilled, and in
front of her was a tall young stranger, who pros-
trated himself three times before the queen. He

KIMYERA CLAIMING THE THRONE OK OANDA.

BOW KIMYERA BECAME KING OF UGANDA 149

was then seen bowing six times before the empty
king's chair. Rising to his feet, he stepped towards
it, and afterwards faced the multitude, who were
looking on wonderingly.

The young stranger, lifting his long spears and
raising his shield in an attitude of defence, cried
out aloud, so that all heard his voice :

" Lo, people of Ganda ! I am Kimyera, son of
Kalimera, by Wanyana of Unyoro. I hereby de-
clare that with her own free will I this day do
take Naku, my father's brother's daughter, to wife,
and seat myself in the king's chair. Let all obey,
on pain of death, the king's word."

On concluding this address, he stepped back a
pace, and gravely sat in the king's chair. A loud
murmur rose from the multitude, and the shafts of
spears were seen rising up, when Naku rose to her
feet, and said :

" People of Ganda, open your ears. I, Naku,
the legitimate queen of Ganda, hereby declare that
I have found my father's brother's son, and I, this
day, of my own free will and great love for him, do
take him for my lord and husband. By full
right Kimyera fills the king's chair. I charge
you all henceforth to be loyal to him, and him
only."

As she ended her speech the people gave a great
shout of welcome to the new king, and they waved
their spears, and clashed them against their

150 MY DARK COMPANIONS

shields, thus signifying their willing allegiance to
King Kiinyera.

The next day great bodies of strong men were
despatched in different directions for the king's
mother and his nurse, and for Sebarija and the two
cows, Namala and Nakaombeh. If alive they were
instructed to convey them with honour and care to
Ganda, and if any fatal misadventure had happened
to them, their remains were to be borne with all
due respect to the king.

Sebwana, meanwhile, had started for the planta-
tions, and hearing the thunder of the great drum,
divined that Naku had deposed him in favour of
the young stranger. To assure himself of the fact,
he sent a confidential slave to discover the truth of
the matter, while he sought a place where he could
await, unobserved, the return of his messenger.
When his slave came back to him he learned what
great event had occurred during his short absence,
and that his power had been given to another.
Knowing the fate attending those thus deposed, he
secretly retired to the district that had given him
birth, where he lived obscure and safe until he died
at a good old age.

After some days Sebarija and Mugema's wife,
and the two cows Namala and Nakaombeh, were
found by tbe banks of My an j a, near a rocky hill
which contained a cave, whither they had retired
to seek a dwelling-place until news could be found

HOW KIMYERA BECAME KINO OF UGANDA 151

of Mugema and Kimyera. But Wanyana, the
king's mother, while gathering fuel near the cave
during the absence of Sebarija and the potter's
wife, had been fatally wounded by a leopard, before
her cries brought Sebarija to her rescue. A short
time after she had been taken into the cave she had
died of her wounds, and her body had been folded
in such furs and covering as her friends possessed,
that Kimyera, on his return, might be satisfied of
the manner of her death.

Kimyera, accompanied by his wife Naku and old
Mugema, set out from Gauda with a great escort
to receive the long-lost couple and the remains of
Wanyana. Mugema rejoiced to see his old wife
once more, though he deeply regretted the loss of
his friend the princess. As for the king, his grief
was excessive, but Naku, with her loving ways,
assisted him to bear his great misfortune. A
period of mourning, for an entire moon, was
enjoined on all the people, after which a great
mound was built at Kagoma over the remains of
the unfortunate princess, and Sebarija was duly
installed as keeper of the monument. Ever since
that day it has become the custom to bury the
queen-mothers near the grave of Wanyana, and to
appoint keepers of the royal cemetery in memory
of Sebarija, who first occupied that post.

While he lived Sebarija was honoured with a
visit, on the first day of every alternate moon,

152 MY DARK COMPANIONS

from Kimyera, who always brought with him a
young buffalo as a gift to the faithful cowherd.
During these days the king and Sebarija were
accustomed to play their flutes together as they
did in the old time, and their seats were on mats
placed on top of the mound, while the escort and
servants of the king and queen sat all round the
foot of it, and this was the manner in which Wan-
yana's memory was honoured during her son's life.

Kimyera finally settled with Queen Naku at
Birra, where he built a large town. Mugema and
his wife, with their two cows Namala and Naka-
ombeh, lived near the palace for many years, until
they died.

Darkness and Wood-burr accompanied the king
on many a hunt in the plains bordering the Myanja,
in the woods of Ruwambo, and along the lake-
lands which look towards Bussi ; and they in their
turn died and were honourably interred with many
folds of bark-cloth. Queen Naku, after giving
birth to three sons, died during the birth of her
fourth child, and was buried with great honour
near Birra, and finally, after living to a great old
age, the hunter king, Kimyera, died, mourned by
all his people.

THE LEGEND OF THE LEOPARDESS
AND HER TWO SERVANTS, DOG AND
JACKAL

T^HE following legend
was also told by Kadu
as we approached Isan-
gila cataract.

Long ago, in the
early age of Uganda,
a leopardess, in
want of a ser-
vant to do chores
in her den, was
solicited by a
jackal to engage
him to perform that duty. As Jackal had a very
suspicious appearance, with his ears drawn back,
and his furtive eyes, and a smile which always
seemed to be a leer, the Leopardess consulted with
Dog, whom she had lately hired as her steward, as
to the propriety of trusting such a cunning-looking
animal.

Dog trotted out to the entrance of the den to
examine the stranger for himself, and, after close
inspection of him, asked Jackal what work he

154 MY DARK COMPANIONS

could do. Jackal replied humbly and fawningly,
and said that he could fetch water from the brook,
collect fuel, sweep out the house, and was willing,
if necessary, to cook now and then, as he was not
a novice in the art of cooking ; and, looking at
Leopardess, " I am very fond of cubs, and am very
clever in nursing them." Mistress Leopardess,
on hearing this, seemed to be impressed with the
abilities of Jackal, and, without waiting for the
advice of Dog, engaged him at once, and said :

" Jackal, you must understand that my custom
is to feed my servants well. What is left from
my table is so abundant that I have heard no
complaints from any who have been with me.
Therefore you need fear no starvation, but while
you may depend upon being supplied with plenty
of meat, the bones must not be touched. Dog
shall be your companion, but neither he nor any-
one else is permitted to touch the bones."

" I shall be quite content, Mistress Leopardess.
Meat is good enough for me, and for good meat
you may depend upon it I shall give good work."

The household of Mistress Leopardess was com-
pleted ; she suffered no anxiety, and enjoyed her-
self in her own way. The chase was her great
delight. The forest and plains were alive with
game, and each morning at sunrise it was her cus-
tom to set out for the hunt, and scarcely a day
passed but she returned with sufficient meat to

THE LEOPARDESS AND HER TWO SERVANTS 155

fatten her household. Dog and Jackal expressed
themselves delighted with the luscious repasts
which they enjoyed, and a sleek roundness wit-
nessed that they fared nobly. But as it frequently
happens with people who have everything they
desire, Dog, in a short while, became more nice
and fastidious in his tastes. He hankered after
the bones which were forbidden him, and was
heard to sigh deeply whenever Mistress Leopardess
collected the bones and stored them in the interior,
and his eyes became filled with tears as he eyed
the rich morsels stowed away. His feelings at
last becoming intolerable, he resolved to appeal to
his mistress one day, as she appeared to be in a
more amiable mood than usual, and said :

" Mistress, thanks to you, the house is always
well supplied with meat, and none of your servants
have any reason to think that they will ever suffer
the pangs of hunger ; but, speaking for myself,
mistress mine, I wish for one thing more, if you
will be so good as to grant it."

" And what may that be, greedy one ? " asked
Leopardess.

" Well, you see, mistress, I fear you do not un-
derstand the nature of dogs very well. You must
know dogs delight in marrow, and often prefer it
to meat. The latter by itself is good, but how-
ever plentiful and good it may be, without an
occasional morsel of marrow it is apt to pall.

156 MY DARK COMPANIONS

Dogs also love to sharpen their teeth on bones
and screw their tongues within the holes for the
sake of the rich juice. By itself, marrow would
not fatten my ribs; but meat with marrow is
most delectable. Now, good mistress, seeing that
I have been so faithful in your service, so docile
and prompt to do your bidding, will you not be
gracious enough to let me gnaw the bones and
extract the marrow ? "

" No," roared Leopardess decisively, " that is
positively forbidden ; and let me warn you that
the day you venture to do so, a strange event
will happen suddenly, which shall have most
serious consequences to you and to all in this
house.

" And you, Jackal, bear what I say well in
mind," she continued, turning to that servile sub-
ordinate.

" Yes, mistress ; I will, most certainly. Indeed,
I do not care very greatly for bones," said Jackal,
"and I hope my friend and mate, Dog, will
remember, good mistress, what you say."

" I hear, mistress," replied Dog, " and since it is
your will, I must needs obey."

The alarming words of Leopardess had the effect
of compelling Dog and Jackal for awhile to desist
from even thinking of marrow, and the entreaty
of Dog appeared to be forgotten by Leopardess,
though Jackal was well aware, by the sparkles in

THE LEOPARDESS AND HER TWO SERVANTS 157

the covetous eyes of Dog when any large bone was
near him, how difficult it was for hiui to resist the
temptation. Day after day Leopardess sallied out
from her den, and returned with kids, goats, sheep,
antelopes, zebra, and often a young giraffe ; and one
day she brought a great buffalo to her household,
and cubs and servants came running to greet her,
and praise her successful hunting.

On this day Dog undertook to prepare the
dinner. The buffalo-meat was cooked in exquisite
fashion, and when it was turned out of the great
pot, steaming and trickling over everywhere with
juice, Dog caught sight of a thigh-bone and yellow
marrow glistening within. The temptation to steal
it was too great to resist. He contrived to drop
the bone back again into the pot, furnished the
tray quickly with the meat, and sent Jackal with
it to Leopardess, saying that he would follow with
the kabobs and stew. As soon as Jackal had o-one
out of the kitchen, Dog whipped the bone out of
the pot and slyly hid it ; then, loading stew and
kabobs on a tray, he hurried after Jackal, and began
officiously bustling about, fawning upon Leopard-
ess, stroking the cubs as he placed them near
their mamma around the smoking trays, scolding
Jackal for his laziness, and bidding him hurry up
with the steaks. All of which, of course, was due
to his delight that he had a rare treat in store for
himself snugly hidden away.

158 MY DARK COMPANIONS

Leopardess was pleased to bestow a good many
praises upon Dog's cooking, and the cubs even
condescended to smile their approval for the ex-
cellent way in which their wants were sup-
plied.

Towards evening Mistress Leopardess went out
again, but not before reminding Jackal of his
duties towards the cubs, and bidding him, if it-
were late before she returned, on no account to
leave them alone in the dark. Dog smilingly
followed his mistress to the door, wishing her, in
the most fawning manner, every success. When
he thought that his mistress was far enough, and
Jackal quite occupied with the cubs, Dog hastened
to the kitchen, and, taking up his bone, stole out
of the house, and carried it to a considerable dis-
tance off. When he thought he was safe from
observation, he lay down, and, placing the bone
between his paws, was about to indulge his craving
for marrow, when lo ! the bone was seen to fly
away back to the den. Wondering at such a
curious event, furious at his disappointment, and
somewhat alarmed as he remembered Leopardess's
warning words, he rushed after it, crying :

" Jackal, Jackal ! shut the door ; the bone is
coining. Jackal, please shut the door."

Jackal fortunately was at the door, squatting
on his haunches, having just arrived there from
nursing the cubs, and saw the bone coming straight

THE LEOPARDESS AND HER TWO SERVANTS 159

towards him, and Dog galloping and crying out to
shut the door. Quickly perceiving that Dog had
at last allowed his appetite to get the better of his
duty, and having, truth to say, a fellow-feeling for
his fellow-servant, Jackal closed the door just in
time, for in about a second afterwards the bone
struck the door with a tremendous force, dinting
it deeply.

Then Jackal turned to Dos;, on recovering; from
his astonishment, and angrily asked, "Oh, Dog,
do you know what you are doing? Have you
no sense ? You came near beincr the death of
me this time. I'll tell you what, my friend, if
Mistress Leopardess hears of this, your life is
not worth a feather."

" Now don't, please, good Jackal — don't say any-
thing of it this time. The fright I have had is
quite sufficient to keep me from touching a bone
again."

"Well, I am sure I don't wish you any harm,
but for your life's sake do not be so dull as to
forget the lesson you have learned."

Soon after Leopardess returned with a small
antelope for the morrow's breakfast, and cried out
to Jackal, as was usual with her on returning from
the hunt :

" Now, my Jackal, bring the cubs hither ; my
dugs are so heavy. How are the little ones i "

" Ah, very well, ma'am : poor little dears, they

1G0 MY DARK COMPANIONS

have been in a sweet sleep ever since you went
out."

A few days later, Leopardess brought a fat
young zebra, and Jackal displayed his best skill
in preparing it for dinner. Dog also assisted with
wise suggestions in the preparation of certain
auxiliaries to the feast. When all was ready, Dog
laid the table, and as fast as Jackal brought the
various dishes, Dog arranged them in the most
tempting manner on fresh banana leaves, spread
over the ample plateau. Just before sitting down
to the meal, Leopardess heard a strange noise with-
out, and bounded to the door, growling angrily at
being disturbed. Dog instantly seized the oppor-
tunity of her absence to extract a great bone from
one of the trays, and stowed it in a recess in the
wall of the passage leading from the kitchen.
Presently Leopardess came back, and when the
cubs were brought the meal was proceeded with
in silence. When they had all eaten enough, the
good effect of it was followed by commendations
upon the cooking, and the juicy flavour of the
meat, and how well Jackal had prepared every-
thing. Neither was Dog forgotten by the mistress
and her young ones, and he was dismissed with the
plenteous remnants of the feast for himself and
mate, with the courteous hope that they would
find enough and to spare.

In the afternoon Leopardess, having refreshed

THE LEOPARDESS AND HER TWO SERVANTS 161

herself with a nap, sallied out once more, enjoining
Jackal, as she was going out of the den, to be
attentive to her little ones during her absence.

While his friend Jackal proceeded towards the
cubs, Dog surreptitiously abstracted his bone from
the cavity in the passage wall, and trotted out
unobserved. When he had arrived at a secluded
place, he lay down, and, seizing the bone between
his paws, was about to give it a preliminary lick,
when again, to his dismay and alarm, the bone
flew up and away straight for the door. Dog
loped after it as fast as his limbs could carry him,
crying out :

" Oh, Jackal, Jackal, good Jackal ! Shut the
door. Hurry up. Shut the door, good Jackal."

Again Jackal heard his friend's cry, and sprang
up to close the door, and the instant he had done
so the bone struck it with dreadful force.

Turning to the crestfallen and panting Dog,
Jackal said sternly : " You are a nice fellow, you
are. I well see the end of you. Now listen, this
is the last time that I shall help you, my friend.
The next time you take a bone you will bear the
consequences, so look out."

" Come, Jackal, now don't say any more ; I will
not look at a bone again, I make you a solemn
promise."

" Keep to that, and you will be safe," replied

Jackal.

u

1G2 MY DARK COMPANIONS

Poor Dog, however, was by no means able to
adhere to his promise, for a few days afterwards
Leopardess brought a fat young eland, and he
found an opportunity to abstract a fine marrow-
bone before serving his generous mistress. Late in
the afternoon, after dinner and siesta, Leopardess,
before going out, repeated her usual charge to
Jackal, and while the faithful servant retired to his
nursing duties, greedy Dog sought his bone, and
stole out to the forest with it. This time he went
further than usual. Jackal meanwhile finding the
cubs indisposed for sleep, led them out to the door
of the den, where they frisked and gambolled about
with all the liveliness of cubhood. Jackal was
sitting at a distance from the door when he heard
the cries of Dog. "Oh, Jackal, Jackal, good
Jackal ! Shut the door quickly. Look out for the
bone. It is coming. Shut the door quickly."

" Ha, ha ! friend Dog ! At it again, eh ? " said
the Jackal. " It is too late, too late, Doggie dear,
the cubs are in the doorway." He looked up, how-
ever, saw the bone coining with terrific speed ; he
heard it whiz as it flew close over his head, and
almost immediately after it struck one of the cubs,
killing it instantly.

Jackal appeared to quickly realise the conse-
quences of Dog's act, and his own carelessness, and
feeling that henceforth Leopardess's den would be
no home for him, he resolved to escape. Just

THE LEOPARDESS AND HER TWO SERVANTS 163

then Dog came up, and when he saw the dead cub
he set up a piteous howl.

" Aye," said Jackal. " You fool, you begin to
see what your greed has brought upon us all.
Howl on, my friend, but you will howl differently
when Mistress Leopardess discovers her dead cub.
Bethink yourself how all this will end. Our mighty
mistress, if she catches you, will make mincemeat
of you. Neither may I stay longer here. My
home must be a burrow in the wild wood, or in the
rocky cave in future. What will you do ? "

" I, Jackal ? I know not yet. Go, if you will,
and starve yourself. I trust to find a better home
than a cramped burrow, or the cold shelter of a
cave. I love warmth, and kitchen fires, and the
smell of roast meats too well to trust myself to the
chilly covert you propose to seek, and my coat is
too fine for rough outdoor life."

" Hark ! " cried Jackal, " do you hear that ? That
is the mistress's warning note ! Fare you well,
Doggie. I shall dream of you to-night lying stark
under the paw of the Leopardess."

Jackal waited to say no more, but fled from the
scene, and from that day to this Jackal has been
a vagabond. He loves the darkness, and the twi-
light. It is at such times you hear his yelp. He
is very selfish and cowardly. He has not courage
enough to kill anything for himself, but prefers
to wait — licking his chops — until the lion or the

164 MY DARK COMPANIONS

leopard, who lias struck the game, has gorged him-
self.

As for Dog he was sorely frightened, but after a
little deliberation he resolved to face the matter
out until he was certain of the danger. He con-
veyed the cubs, living and dead, quickly within,
and then waited with well-dissembled anxiety the
coming of his mistress.

Leopardess shortly arrived, and was met at the
door by the obsequious Dog with fawning welcome.

" Where is Jackal ? " asked Leopardess as she
entered.

" I regret to say he has not returned yet from a
visit which he said he was bound to pay his friends
and family, whom he had not seen for so long,"
replied Dog.

u Then you go and bring my little ones to me.
Poor little dears, they must be hungry by this, and
my milk troubles me," commanded the mistress.

Dog departed readily, thinking to himself, "I
am in for it now." He soon returned, bearing one
of the cubs, and laid it down.

" Bring the other one, quickly," cried Leopardess.

" Yes, ma'am, immediately," he said.

Dog took the same cub up again, but in a brief
time returned with it. The cub, already satisfied,
would not touch the teat.

" Go and bring the other one, stupid," cried
Le >[>ardess, observing that it would not suck.

THE LEOPARDESS AND HER TWO SER VANTS 167

"This is the other one, mistress," he replied.

" Then why does it not suck ? " she asked.

" Perhaps it has not digested its dinner."

" Where is Jackal ? Has he not yet returned ?
Jackal ! " she cried. " Where are you, Jackal ? "

From the jungle out-doors Jackal shrilly yelped,
" Here I am, mistress ! "

" Come to me this instant," commanded Leop-
ardess.

" Coming, mistress, coming," responded Jackal's
voice faintly, for at the sound of her call he had
been alarmed and was trotting off.

" Why, what can be the matter with the brute,
trifling with me in this manner ? Here, Dog, take
this cub to the crib."

Dog hastened to obey, but Leopardess, whose
suspicions had been aroused, quietly followed him
as he entered the doorway leading into the inner
recess of the house where the crib was placed.
Having placed the living near the dead cub in the
crib, Dog turned to leave, when he saw his dreaded
mistress in the doorway, gazing with fierce dis-
tended eyes, and it flashed on him that she had
discovered the truth, and fear adding speed to his
limbs he darted like an arrow between her legs,
and rushed out of the den. With a loud roar of
fury Leopardess sprang after him, Dog running
for dear life. His mistress was gaining upon him,
when Dog turned aside, and ran round the trees.

168 MY DARK COMPANIONS

Again Leopardess was rapidly drawing near, when
Dog shot straight away and increased the distance
between them a little. Just as one would think
Dog had no hope of escaping from his fierce mis-
tress, he saw a wart-hog's burrow, into which he
instantly dived. Leopardess arrived at the hole in
the ground as the tail of Dog disappeared from
her sight. Being too large of body to enter, she
tore up the entrance to the burrow, now and then
extending her paw far within to feel for her vic-
tim. But the burrow was of great length, and
ran deep downwards, and she was at last obliged
to desist from her frantic attempts to reach the
runaway.

Reflecting awhile, Leopardess looked around and
saw Monkey near by, sitting gravely on a branch
watching her.

" Come down, Monkey," she imperatively com-
manded, " and sit by this burrow and watch the
murdering slave who is within, while I procure
materials to smoke him out."

Monkey obeyed, and descending the tree, took
his position at the mouth of the burrow. But it
struck him that should Dog venture out, his
strength would be unable to resist him. He there-
fore begged Leopardess to stay a moment, while
he went to bring a rock with which he could block
the hole securely. When this was done Leopardess
said, " Now stay here, and do not stir until I

THE LEOPARDESS AND HER TWO SERVANTS 169

return ; I will not be long, and when I come I will
fix him."

Leopardess, leaving the burrow in charge of
Monkey, commenced to collect a large quantity of
dry grass, and then proceeded to her house to pro-
cure fire wherewith to light it, and suffocate Dog
Avith the smoke.

Dog, soon after entering the burrow had turned
himself round and faced the hole, to be ready for
all emergencies. He had heard Leopardess give
her orders to Monkey, had heard Monkey's plans
for blockading him, as well as the threat of
Leopardess to smoke him out. There was not
much hope for him if he stayed longer.

After a little while he crept close to the rock
that blocked his exit, and whispered :

" Monkey, let me out, there's a good fellow."

" It may not be," replied Monkey.

" Ah, Monkey, why are you so cruel ? I have
not done any harm to you. Why do you stand
guard over me to prevent my escape ? "

" I am simply obeying orders, Dog. Leopardess
said, ' Stay here and watch, and see that Dog does
not escape ; ' and I must do so or harm will come
to. me, as you know."

Then said Dog, " Monkey, I see that you have a
cruel heart, too, though I thought none but the
Leopard kind could boast of that. May you feel
some day the deep despair I feel in my heart.

170

MY DARK COMPANIONS

Let me say one word more to you before I die.
Put your head close to me that you may
hear it."

Monkey, curious to know what the^ last word
could be about, put his face close between the
rock and the earth and looked in, upon which
Dog threw so much dust and sand into his cun-
ning eyes as almost to blind him.

Monkey staggered back from the entrance, and

"DOG fled like the wind.'

while knuckling his eyes to rub the sand out, Dog
put his fore-feet against the rock and soon rolled
it away. Then, after a hasty view around, Dog
fled like the wind from the dangerous spot.

Monkey, after clearing his eyes from the dirt
thrown in them, and reviewing his position, began
to be concerned as to his own fate. It was not
long before his crafty mind conceived that it
would be a good idea to place some soft nuts

THE LEOPARDESS AND HER TWO SERVANTS 1 71

within the burrow, and roll back the stone into
its place.

When Leopardess returned with the fire she
was told that Dog was securely imprisoned within,
upon which she piled the grass over the burrow
and set fire to it.

Presently a crackling sound was heard within.

" What can that be ? " demanded Leopardess.

" That must surely be one of Dog's ears that
you heard exploding," replied Monkey.

After a short time another crackling sound was
heard.

" And what is that ? " asked Leopardess.

"Ah, that must be the other ear of course,"
Monkey answered.

But as the fire grew hotter and the heat in-
creased within there were a great many of these
sounds heard, at which Monkey laughed gleefully
and cried :

" Ah ha ! do you hear ? Dog is splitting to
pieces now. Oh, he is burning up finely ; every
bone in his body is cracking. Ah, but it is a
cruel death, though, is it not ? "

" Let him die," fiercely cried Leopardess. " He
killed one of my young cubs — one of the loveliest
little fellows you ever saw."

Both Leopardess and Monkey remained at the
burrow until the fire had completely died out, then
the first said :

172 MY DARK COMPANIONS

" Now, Monkey, bring me a long stick with a
hook at the end of it, that I may rake Dog's bones
out and feast my eyes upon them."

Monkey hastened to procure the stick, with
which the embers were raked out, when Leopard-
ess exclaimed :

" What a queer smell this is ! It is not at all
like what one would expect from a burnt dog."

" Ah," replied Monkey, " Dog must be completely
burnt by this. Of that there can be no doubt.
Did you ever burn a dog before that you know the
smell of its burnt body so well ? "

" No," said the Leopardess ; " but this is not
like the smell of roast meat. Rake out all the
ashes that I may see the bones and satisfy my-
self."

Monkey, compelled to do as he was commanded,
put in his stick, and drew out several half-baked
nuts, the shells of which were cracked and gaping
open. These Leopardess no sooner saw than she
seized Monkey, and furiously cried :

" You wretch, you have deceived and trifled with
me ! You have permitted the murderer of my cub
to escape, and your life shall now be the forfeit for
his."

" Pardon, mighty Leopardess, but let me ask
how do you propose to slay me ? "

" Why, miserable slave, how else should I kill
you but with one scratch of my claws \ "

THE LEOPARDESS AND HER TWO SERVANTS 1?3

" Nay, then, great Queen, my blood will fall on
your head and smother you. It is better for your-
self that you should toss me up above that thorny
bough, so that when I fall upon it the thorns may
penetrate my heart and kill me."

No sooner had Monkey ended, than fierce
Leopardess tossed Monkey upward as he had
directed ; but the latter seized the bough and sat
up, and from this he sprang upward into another
still higher, and thence from branch to branch and
from tree to tree until he was safe from all possible
pursuit.

Leopardess perceived that another of her in-
tended victims had escaped, and was furious with
rage.

" Come down this instant," she cried to Monkey,
hoping he would obey her.

" Nay, Leopardess. It has been told me, and
the forest is full of the report, that your cruelty
has driven from you Jackal and Dog, and that
they will never serve you again. Cruel people
never can reckon upon friends. I and my tribe,
so long servants to you, will henceforth be
strangers to you. Fare you well."

A great rustling was heard in the trees overhead
as Monkey and his tribe migrated away from the
district of the cruel Leopardess who, devoured
with rage, was obliged to depart with not one of.
her vengeful thoughts gratified.

1?4 MY DAttK COMPANIONS

As she was returning to her den, Leopardess
bethought herself of the Oracle, who was her
frieud, who would no doubt, at her solicitations,
reveal the hiding-places of Jackal and Dog. She
directed her steps to the cave of the Oracle, who
was a nondescript practising witchcraft in the
wildest part of the district.

To this curious being she related the story of
the murder of her cub by Jackal and Dog, and
requested him to inform her by what means she
could discover the criminals and wreak her venge-
ance on them.

The Oracle replied, "Jackal has gone into the
wild wood, and he and his family henceforward
will always remain there, to degenerate in time
into a suspicious and cowardly race. Dog has fled
to take his shelter in the home of man, to be his
companion and frieud, and to serve man against
you and your kind. But lest you accuse me of
ill-will to you, I will tell you how you may catch
Dog if you are clever and do not allow your
temper to exceed your caution. Not far off is a
village belonging to one of the human tribes, near
which there is a large ant-hill, where moths every
morning flit about in the sunshine of the early
day. About the same time Dog leaves the village
to sport and gambol and chase the moths. If you
can find a lurking-place not far from it, where you
can lie silently in wait, Dog may be caught by

THE LEOPARDESS AND HER TWO SERVANTS 175

you in an unwary moment while at his daily play.
I have spoken."

Leopardess thanked the Oracle and retired
brooding over its advice. That night the moon
was very clear and shining bright, and she stole
out of her den, and proceeding due west as she was
directed, in a few hours she discovered the village
and the ant-hill described by the Oracle. Near the
mound she also found a thick dense bush, which
was made still more dense by the tall wild grass
surrounding it. In the depths of this she crouched,
waiting for morning. At dawn the village wherein
men and women lived was astir, and at sunrise the
gates were opened. A little later Dog signalled
himself by his well-known barks as he came out
to take his morning's exercise. Unsuspicious of the
presence of his late dread mistress he bounded up
the hill and began to circle around, chasing the
lively moths. Leopardess, urged by her anger,
did not wait until Dog, tired with his sport, would
of his own accord stray among the bushes, but
uttering a loud roar sprang out from her hiding-
place. Dog, warned by her voice, which he well
knew, put his tail between his legs and rushed
through the open gates and alarmed his new
masters, who came pouring from their houses with
dreadful weapons in their hands, who chased her,
and would have slain her had she not bounded over
the fence. Thus Leopardess lost her last chance

ire

MY DARK COMPANIONS

of revenging the death of her cub ; but as she was
creeping homeward her mortification was so great
that she vowed to teach her young eternal hostility
towards Dog and all his tribe. Dog also, convinced
that his late mistress was oue who nourished an
implacable resentment when offended, became more

"came pouring from their houses with dreadful weapons.

cautious, and a continued life with his new mas
ters increased his attachment for them. When
he finally married, and was blessed with a progeny,
he taught his pups various arts by which they
might ingratiate themselves more and more with
the human race. He lived in comfort and affluence

THE LEOPARDESS AND HER TWO SERVANTS 177

to a good old age, and had the satisfaction to see his
family grow more and more in the estimation of
their generous masters, until dogs and men became
inseparable companions.

Leopardess and her cub removed far away from
the house associated with her misfortune, but
though Time healed the keen sore of her bereave-
ment by blessing her annually with more cubs, her
hate for Dog and his kind was lasting and continues
to this day. And thus it was that the friendly
fellowship which reigned between the forest ani-
mals during the golden age of Uganda was broken
for ever.

For proof of the truth of what I have said con-
sider the matter in your own minds. Regard the
Ape who, upon the least alarm springs up the tree,
and stays not until he has secured himself far from
reach. Think of the Jackal in his cheerless solitude
deep in the bowels of the earth, or in the farthest
rocky recess that he can discover, ever on the
watch against some foe, too full of distrust to have
a friend, the most selfish and cowardly of the for
est community. The Leopard is the enemy at all
times, night and day, of every animal, unless it be
the lion and the elephant. As for the Dog, where
is the man who is not acquainted with his fidelity
his courage in time of danger, his watchful care of
his interests by night, and his honest love for the
family which feeds him ? My story is here ended,
12

A SECOND VERSION OF THE LEOPARD
AND THE DOG STORY

IARBOKO, who was
originally from
Unyoro, a couutry
which lies to the
north of Uganda, and
had been employed as
a page by Mtesa, king
of Uganda, protested
that his version of
how the dog became
estranged from the
leopard, his chum, was
nearer the truth than
that given by Kadu. Perceiving that he was in-
clined to contribute to our amusement, for a reason
of his own, we ranged ourselves around the camp
fire in the usual way and prepared to listen to
another version of a legend which is popular
among most of the tribes dwelling in the Lake
Region.

LEOPARD AND DOG STORY, SECOND VERSION 179

How the Dog outwitted the Leopard*

In the early time there was a dog and a leopard
dwelling together in a cave like chums. They
shared and fared alike. Exact half of everything
and equal effort were the terms upon which they
lived. Many and many a famous raid among the
flocks and fowls in the human villages they made.
The leopard was by far the strongest and boldest,
and was most successful in catching prey. Dog
lived so well on the spoils brought home by his
friend that he became at last fat and lazy, and he
began to dislike going out at night in the rain and
cold dew, and to hide this growing habit from
Leopard he had to be very cunning. He always
invented some excuse or another to explain why
he brought nothing to the common larder, and
finally he hit upon a new plan of saving himself
from the toil and danger.

Just before dusk one day, Leopard and Dog
were sociably chatting together, when Leopard
said that he intended that night to catch a fine
fat black goat which he had observed in the near-
est village to their den. He had watched him
getting fatter every day, and he was bent upon
bringing him home.

* Republished from the " Fortnightly Magazine " with the permis-
sion of the Editor and Proprietors.

180 MY DARK COMPANIONS

"Black is it?" cried Dog. "That is strange,
for that is also the colour of the one I purposed to
catch to-night."

The two friends slept until most of the night
was gone, but when there were signs that morning
was not far off they silently loped away to their
work.

They parted at the village which Leopard had
selected to rob, Dog whispering " Good luck " to
him. Dog trotted off a little way and sneaked
back to watch his friend.

Leopard stealthily surveying the tall fence, saw
one place which he could leap over, and at one
spring was inside the village. Snuffing about, he
discovered the goat-pen, forced an entrance, and
seizing his prize by the neck, drew it out. He
then flung it over his shoulders, and with a mighty
leap landed outside the fence.

Dog, who had watched his chance, now cried out
in an affected voice, " Hi, hi — wake up ! Leopard
has killed the goat. There he is. Ah, ah ! Kill
him, kill him ! "

Alarmed at the noise made, and hearing a rustle
in the grass near him, Leopard was obliged to
abandon his prize, and to save his own life, dropped
the goat and fled.

Dog, chuckling loudly at the success of his ruse,
picked the dead goat up, and trotted home to the
den with it.

LEOPARD AND DOG STORY, SECOND VERSION 183

" Oh, see, Leopard ! " cried he, as he reached the
entrance, " what a fat goat I've got at my village.
Is it not a heavy one ? But where is yours ? Did
you not succeed after all ? "

" Oh ! I was alarmed by the owners in the
village, who pursued me and yelled out, ' Kill him,
kill him ! ' and there was something rustling in the
grass close by, and I thought that I was done for ;
but I dropped the goat and ran away. I dare say
they have found the animal by this, and have
eaten our meat. Never mind, though, better
luck next time. I saw a fine fat white goat
in the pen, which I am sure to catch to-morrow
night."

"Well, I am very sorry, but cheer your heart.
You shall have an equal share with me of this.
Let us bestir ourselves to cook it."

They gathered sticks and made a fire, and began
to roast it. When it was nearly ready Dog went
outside, and took a stick and beat the ground, and
whined out :

" Oh ! please, I did not do it. It was Leopard
that killed the goat. Oh ! don't kill me. It was
Leopard who stole it."

Leopard, hearing these cries and the blows of
the stick, thought to himself : " Ah ! the men have
followed us to our den, and are killing Dog ; then
they will come and kill me if I do not run." He
therefore ran out and escaped.

184 MY DARK COMPANIONS

Dog, on seeing him well away, coolly returned
to the den and devoured the whole of the meat,
leaving only the bones.

After a long time Leopard returned to the den,
and found Dog moaning piteously. " What is the
matter, my friend ? " he asked.

" Ah ! oh ! don't touch me ; don't touch me, I
beg of you. I am so bruised and sore all over !
Ah ! my bones ! They have half killed me,"
moaned Dog.

" Poor fellow ! Well, lie still and rest. There
is nothing like rest for a bruised body. I will get
that white goat the next time I try."

After waiting two or three days, Leopard
departed to obtain the white goat. Dog sneaked
after him, and served his friend in the same way,
bringing the w^hite goat himself, and bragging how
he had succeeded, while pretending to pity Leopard
for his bad luck.

Three times running Dog served him with the
same trick, and Leopard was much mortified at
his own failure. Then Leopard thought of the
Muzimu — the oracle Avho knows all things, and
gives such good advice to those who are unfortu-
nate and ask for his help — and he resolved, in his
distress, to seek him.

In the heart of the tall, dark woods, where the
bush is most dense, where vines clamber over
the clumps, and fold themselves round and round

LEOPARD AND DOG STORY, SECOND VERSION 185

the trees, and hang in long coils by the side of a
cool stream, the Muzimu resided.

Leopard softly drew near the sacred place and
cried, " Oh ! Muzimu, have pity on me. I am
almost dying with hunger. I used to be bold and
strong, and successful, but now, of late, though I
catch my prey as of old, something always hap-
pens to scare me away, and I lose the meat I have
taken. Help me, O Muzimu, and tell how my
good luck may return."

After a while the Muzimu answered in a deep
voice, " Leopard, your ill-luck comes from your
own folly. You know how to catch prey, but it
takes a dos; to know how to eat it. Go ; watch
your friend, and your ill-luck will fly away."

Leopard was never very wise, though he had
good eyes, and was swift and brave, and he
thought over what the Muzimu said. He could
not understand in what way his good luck would
return by watching his friend, but he resolved to
follow the advice of the Muzimu.

The next night Leopard gave out that he was
going to seize a dun-coloured goat, and Dog said,
" Ah ! that is what I mean to do too. I think a
dun-coated goat so sweet."

The village was reached, a low place was found
in the palings, and Leopard, as quick as you could
wink, was over and among the goats. With one
stroke he struck his victim dead, threw it over his

186 MY DARK COMPANIONS

shoulders, and, with a flying leap, carried it out-
side. Dog, who was hiding near the place, in a
strange voice cried, " Ah ! here he is — the thief of
a Leopard ! Kill him ! kill him ! "

Leopard turning his head around, saw him in
the grass and heard him yelp, " Awu-ou-ou !
Awu-ou-ou ! Kill him ! kill him ! " dropped the
goat for an instant and said, " Ah, it is you, my
false friend, is it ? Wait a bit, and I will teach you
how you may steal once too often." With eyes
like balls of lire, he rushed at him, and would have
torn him into pieces, but Dog's instinct told him
that the game he had been playing was up, and
burying his tail between his hind legs, he turned
and fled for dear life. Round and round the village
he ran, darting this way and that, until, finding his
strength was oozing out of him, he dashed finally
through a gap in the fence, straight into a man's
house and under the bed, where he lay gasping
and panting. Seeing that the man, who had been
scared by his sudden entry, was about to take his
spear to kill him, he crawled from under the bed
to the man's feet, and licked them, and turned on
his back imploring mercy. The man took pity on
him, tied him up, and made a pet of him. Ever
since Dog and Man have been firm friends, but
a mortal hatred has existed between Dog and
Leopard. Dog's back always bristles straight up
when his enemy is about, and there is no truer

LEOPARD AND DOG STORY, SECOND VERSION 187

warning of the Leopard's presence than that given
by Dog — while Leopard would rather eat a dog
than a goat any day. That is the way — as I heard
it in Unyoro — that the chumship between Leopard
and Dog was broken up.

THE LEGEND OF THE CUNNING TER-
RAPIN AND THE CRANE

HE following story of the
cunning Terrapin and
the Crane established
K a d u ' s reputation
among us, and the
Zanzibaris were never
so amused as on this
evening.

"Master," began
Kadu, after we had
made ourselves com-
fortable before a bright and crackling fire, " some
men say that animals do not reason, and cannot
express themselves, but I should like to know
how it is that we perceive that there is great
cunning in their actions, as though they calculated
beforehand how to act, and what would be the
result. We Waganda think animals are very
clever. We observe the cock in the yard, and the
hen with her chickens ; the leopard, as he is about
to pounce on his prey ; the lion, as he is about to
attack ; the crocodile, as he prepares for his rush ;

THE CUNNING TERRAPIN AND THE CRANE 189

the buffalo in the shade, as he awaits the hunter;
the elephant, as he stands at attention; and we
say to ourselves, how intelligent they are ! Our
legends are all founded on these things, and we
interpret the actions of animals from having seen
their methods ; and I think men placed in the same
circumstances could not have acted much better.
It may appear to you, as though we were telling
you mere idle tales to raise a laugh. Well, it may
be very amusing to hear and talk about them, but
it is still more amusing to watch the tricks of
animals and insects, and our old men are fond of
quoting the actions of animals to teach us, while
we are children, what we ought to do. Indeed,
there is scarcely a saying but what is founded upon
something that an animal was seen to do at one
time or another.

" Now the story that I am about to relate, is a
very old one in Uganda. I heard it when a child,
and from the fact that a Terrapin was said to be so
cunning, I have never liked to ill-treat a Terrapin,
and every time I see one, the story comes to my
mind in all its freshness."

A Terrapin and a Crane were one time travelling
together very sociably. They began their conver-
sation by the Terrapin asking :

" How is your family to-day, Miss Crane ? "

" Oh, very well. Mamma, who is getting old,
complains now and then, that's all."

190 MY DARK COMPANIONS

" But do you know that it strikes me that she is
very fat ? " said Terrapin. " Now a thought has
just entered my head, which I beg to propose to
you. My mother, too, is ailing, and I am rather
tired of hearing her complaints day after day ; but
she is exceedingly lean aud tough, though there
is plenty of her. I wonder what you will say to
my plan ? We are both hungry. So let us go and
kill your mother, and eat her ; and to-morrow, you
will come to me, and we will kill my mother.
We thus shall be supplied with meat for some
days."

Replied the Crane, " I like the idea greatly, and
agree to it. Let us go about it at once, for hunger
is an exacting mistress, and the days of fasting are
more frequent than those of fulness."

The matricides turned upon their tracks, and,
arriving at the house of Mrs. Crane, the two cruel
creatures seized upon Mamma Crane, and put her
to death. They then plucked her clean, and
placed her body in the stew-pot, and both Terrapin
and Crane feasted.

Terrapin then crawled home, leaving Crane to
sleep, and the process of digestion. But, alas !
Crane soon became very ill. Whether some qualms
of conscience disturbed digestion or not, I cannot
say, but she passed a troublesome night, and for
several days afterwards she did not stir from her
house.

THE CUNNING TERRAPIN AND THE CRANE 191

Terrapin, on reaching the house of its mamma,
which was in the hollow of a tree, cried out :

" Tu-no-no-no ! " upon which Mrs. Terrapin said,
" Oh, that is my child," and she let down a cord,
to which young Terrapin made himself fast, and
was assisted to the nest where the parent had
already prepared a nice supper for him.

Several days later, Terrapin wras proceeding
through the woods to the pool where he was ac-
customed to bathe, when at the water-side he met
Miss Crane apparently quite spruce and strong
again.

She hailed Terrapin and said, " Oh, here you
are, at last. I have been waiting to see you for
some time."

" Yes," replied Terrapin, " here I am, and you
— how do you feel now ? My neighbours told me
you were very ill."

" I am all right again," said Miss Crane, " but I
think my old ma disagreed with me, and I was
quite poorly for some days ; but I am now anxious
to know when you are going to keep your part of
the bargain which we made."

"What — you mean about the disposing of my
old ma ? "

" Yes, to be sure," answered Crane, " I feel quite
hungry."

" Well, well. Bargains should always be kept,
for if the blood-oath be broken misfortune fol-

192 MY DARK COMPANIONS

lows. Your mother's death rests on my head, and
I mean to return your hospitality with interest,
otherwise, may my shell be soon empty of its ten-
ant. Stay here awhile and I will bring her."

So saying, Terrapin departed, and crept to where
he had secretly stowed a quantity of india-rubber,
in readiness for the occasion. After taking out
quite a mass of it, he returned to the pond, where
Miss Crane stood on one leg, expectant and wink-
ing pleasantly.

" I fear, sister Crane," said Terrapin, as he laid
his burden down, " that you will find my old ma
tough. She turned out to be much leaner than I
anticipated. There is no more fat on her bones,
than there is on my back. But now, fall to, and
welcome. There is plenty there. I am not hungry
myself, as I have just finished my dinner."

Miss Crane, with her empty stomach, was not
fastidious, and stepped out eagerly to the feast so
faithfully provided, and began to tear away at
what Terrapin had brought. The rubber, how-
ever, stretched by the greedy Crane, suddenly flew
from her foot, and rebounding, struck her in the
face a smart blow.

" Oh ! oh ! " cried Crane, confused with the blow.
" Your old ma is most tough."

"Yes, she is. I suspected she would prove a
little tough," answered Terrapin, with a chuckle.
" But don't be bashful. Eat away, and welcome."

THE CUNNING TERRAPIN AND THE CRANE 193

Again Miss Crane tugged at the rubber to tear
it, but the more it was stretched, the more severe
were the shocks she received, and her left eye was
almost blinded.

" Well, I never," exclaimed Miss Crane. " She is
too tough altogether."

" Try again," cried Terrapin. " Try again ; little
by little, it is said, a fly eats a cow's tail. You will
get a rare and tender bit in time."

Miss Crane thus pressed, did so, and seizing a
piece lay back, and drew on it so hard that when
the rubber at last slipped, it bounded back with,
such force, that she was sent sprawling to the
ground.

" Why, what is the matter ? " asked Terrapin,
pretending to be astonished. "She is tough, I
admit ; but loh ! our family are famous for tough-
ness. However, the tougher it is, the longer it
lasts on the stomach. Try again, sister Crane ; I
warrant you will manage it next time."

" Oh, bother your old ma. Eat her yourself. I
have had enough of that kind of meat."

" You give it up, do you ? " cried Terrapin.
" Well, well, it is a pity to throw good meat away.
Maybe, if I keep it longer it will get tenderer by
and by."

They thus parted, Terrapin bearing his share
of rubber away in one direction, and Miss Crane
sadly disgusted, striding grandly off in another,
13

194 MY BARK COMPANIONS

but looking keenly about for something to satisfy
her hunger.

When she had gone a great distance a parrot
flew across her path, and perching on a branch
near her, cried out, " Oh, royal bird, say since when
has rubber become the food of the bird-king's
family?"

" What do you mean, Parrot ? " she asked.

" Well, I saw you tearing at a piece of rubber
just now, and when you marched off Terrapin
carried it away, and I heard him say — because he
.has a habit of speaking his thoughts aloud — Oh,
how stupid my sister Crane is ! She thinks my ma
is dead. Ho, ho, ho ! what a stupid ! And all
the way he chuckled and laughed as though he
was filled with plantain wine."

" Is his ma not dead then ? " asked Miss Crane.

" Dead ! Not a bit of it," replied Parrot. " I saw
old Ma Terrapin but a moment ago as I flew by
her tree, waiting for her son, and the cord is
ready for his cry of ' Tu-no-no-no. Ano-no-no.
We-no-no-no ! ' "

" Ah, Parrot, your words are good. When we
know what another is saying behind our backs, we
discover the workings of his heart. The words of
Terrapin are like the bush that covers the trap.
Good-by, Parrot. When we next meet, we shall
have another story to tell."

On the next day, Terrapin observed Miss Crane

THE CUNNING TERRAPIN AND THE CRANE 195

approaching his house, and he advanced a little
way to meet her.

" Well, sister Crane, I hope you are all right this
morning ? " he asked.

" Oh yes, so so, brother Terrapin. But you must
excuse me just now; I've heard bad news from my
family. A brother and sister of mine are suddenly
taken ill, and I am bound to go and visit them,"
answered Crane.

" Ah, Miss Crane, that reminds me of my own
brother and sister, who are much younger than I
am, but very soft and tender. What do you say
now to making another bargain ? " asked Terrapin
with a wink.

" You are very good, Terrapin. I will think of
it as I go along. I shall be back before noon to-
morrow, and we will talk of a trade then." They
were very civil to one another as they parted.
Terrapin went for his usual walk to the pond, Miss
Crane proceeded to visit her family, but muttered :

" Ha, ha, Terrapin, you are great at a trade ;
but you will not make another with me in a hurry
till our first one is squared."

After she had gone a little wray she turned sud-
denly round and came back to the foot of Terra-
pin's tree, and cried,

" Tu-no-no-no. Ano-no-no-no. We-no-no-no ! "

"Ah, that is my child's voice," said Ma Terrapin
to herself, and let down the cord.

106 MY DARK COMPANIONS

Miss Crane caught hold and climbed up towards
the nest. Ma Terrapin craned her neck out far to
welcome her child, but before she could discover
by what means little Terrapin had changed its
dress, Miss Crane struck Ma Terrapin with her
long sharp bill in the place where the neck joins
the shoulder, and in a short time Ma Terrapin was
as dead as Miss Crane's own mother.

The body was rolled from the nest, and it
went falling down, and Miss Crane slid quickly
after it.

In a quiet place screened by thick bushes Miss
Crane made a great fire, with wThich Ma Terrapin's
thick shell was cracked. She then scooped out the
flesh, and carried it to her own home, and stowed
it in a big black pot.

On the next day as Miss Crane was standing on
one leg by the pond, with her head half buried in
her feathers, who should come along but Terrapin,
crying bitterly, and saying, " Ah, my ma is dead.
My old ma has been killed. Who will assist me
now ? "

Miss Crane affected to be asleep, but heard every
word. When, however, Terrapin was near, she
woke up suddenly and said, cheerfully,

" Ah ! it is Terrapin, my little brother Terrapin.
How do you do to-day ? "

Nowr as Terrapin had already slain his mother,
according to his own confession, it struck him that

THE CUNNING TERRAPIN A.\D THE CRANE 19)

it would not do to accuse Miss Crane of the mur-
der, because by doing so lie would expose his
breach of faith with her, but the scent of the
roasted flesh of Ma Terrapin came strong just
then, and he knew that it was Crane who, discov-
ering his trick, had killed her.

He managed, however, to reply briskly :

" Sissy, dear, I am but tolerable. But how is
your family to-day ? "

"My brother and sister are much improved,
Terrapin. They are both as fat as tallow. By-
the-bye, what about that trade you proposed to
me ? "

" I am ready, Miss Crane, for a trade any day.
When shall it be?"

" No time so good as the present, and if you jog-
along to the other end of the pond, I will fix my
house here, and soon catch up with you."

Terrapin professed great delight, and toddled
along ; but when he had gone a little way his bad
habit of thinking aloud came on him, and he was
heard to say : —

" My poor ma ! my poor ma is dead ! O you
wicked Crane ! I know by the scent of the meat
that you have killed my ma. What can I do
now ? "

Miss Crane knew then that she had been dis-
covered, and she began to think that it was time
to remove to another district, for Terrapin had

iyg J/f DARK COMPANIONS

many friends in the woods, such as rabbits, jack-
als, lions, and serpents, and if Terrapin moaned
so loud, all the people of the woods would know
what she had done, and many would no doubt
assist him to punish her. Casting about in
her mind for the best place, she remembered
an extremely tall tree which was not far from
Terrapin's house, a very lofty clean-shafted tree,
on the top of which she would be safe from
surprise.

Thither she hastily removed her belongings, and
soon established herself comfortably. She had also
provided herself with a store of strong sticks to be
used as weapous in case of necessity.

Terrapin meanwhile crawled along, moaning
loudly his lamentations. Suddenly Rabbit popped
out of the woods, and stood in his path. He soon
was made aware of Terrapin's bereavement, and
strongly sympathised with him. Terrapin related
the story in such a way that made Miss Crane
appear to be a murderess, against whom the people
of the woods should take vengeance.

" Then," said Rabbit, " that must be Miss Crane,
who is building her house on the very top of that
tall tree near your place."

" Is she ? " asked Terrapin. " I did not know
that. She was to have met me here; but I see
she knows that she is detected, and is already
taking measures to protect herself. But, Rabbit,

THE CUNNING TERRAPIN AND THE CRANE 199

you who are always wise, tell me how I may
avenge myself ? "

"There is only one way that I know of,"
answered Rabbit, dubiously. " Go to the Soko
(Gorilla ?), but he is a hard dealer who will make
you pay handsomely for his help. Soko is the
king of the ape kind. If you pay him well, he
will fasten a cord to Crane's nest, up which you
can climb when she is absent. Once there, lie
quietly, and when she alights seize her."

The plan pleased Terrapin immensely, and pos-
sessing a comfortable property upon the loss of his
mother, he thought he had sufficient to purchase
Soko's assistance.

Through the good offices of Rabbit negotiations
were entered into with Soko, who agreed for a
potful of good nuts, ten bunches of ripe bananas,
one hundred eggs, and sundry other trifles, to hang
a stout rattan climber to Crane's nest, long enough
to reach the ground.

The royal bird was soon informed of the con-
spiracy against her by the Parrot, who loves to
carry tales, and Miss Crane resolved to be absent
from home while Soko was fastening the climber,
but commissioned her friend the Parrot to observe
the proceedings, and to report to her when Soko
had completed his task.

Soko performed his part expeditiously. Terra-
pin tested the strength of the rattan, and had to

200 MY DARK COMPANIONS

confess that Soko had earned his pay, and Rabbit
accompanied Terrapin and Soko to Terrapin's house
to see the Soko receive his commission.

As they departed Parrot flew to inform Miss
Crane, who immediately returned to her house to
await her enemy.

Not long after Terrapin came to the foot of
Crane's tree and commenced to climb up. He had
nearly reached the top when Miss Crane stood up
and delivered such a thwacking blow on Terrapin's
back that it caused him to loose his hold and fall
to the ground. When Terrapin recovered his
senses, he heard Miss Crane cry out —

" Ha ! brother Terrapin, that was a nasty fall.
You remember the rubber, don't you ? There is
nothing like the advice you gave me. Try again,
Terrapin, my brother. Try again."

" You killed my ma, did you not ? " asked Ter-
rapin.

" I thought you told me that you had killed her
according to agreement. Then how can you say
that I killed her ? " asked Miss Crane.

" That was not my ma I gave you. It was only
a lump of rubber."

" Ho, ho ! You confess it then ? Well, we are
now quits. You induced me to kill my ma, and
as you could not keep your part of the bargain,
I saved you the trouble. My ma was as much to
me as your ma was to you. We have both lost

" SOKO PERFORMED HIS PART EXPEDITIOUSLY."

THE CUNNING TERRAPIN AND THE CRANE 203

our ma's now. So let us call it even, and be
friends a^ain."

Terrapin hesitated, but the memory of his ma's
loss soon produced the old bitterness, and he be-
came as unforgiving as ever. Miss Crane must,
however, be persuaded that the matter was for-
given, otherwise he would never have the oppor-
tunity to avenge his ma's death.

" All right, Crane," he answered ; " but let me
come up, and embrace you over it, or do you de-
scend and let us shake hands."

" Come up, by all means, Terrapin. I am always
at home to friends," said Miss Crane.

Terrapin upon this began to climb, but as he
was ascending he foolishly began to think aloud
again, and he was heard saying —

" Oh, yes, sister Crane. Just wait a little, and
you will see. He, he, he ! "

Miss Crane, who was quietly listening, heard
Terrapin's chuckle and muttering, and prepared to
receive him properly. When he was within reach,
she cried, " Hold hard, Terrapin," and at once pro-
ceeded to shower mighty blows on his back, then
laid the stick on his feet so sharply that, to protect
them, he had to withdraw them into his shell, in
doing which he lost his hold and fell to the ground
with such force that to anything but a terrapin
the great fall would have been instantly fatal.

" Try again, Terrapin ; try again, my brother.

204 JT DARK COMPANIONS

Another time and you will succeed," cried Miss
Crane, mockingly.

Terrapin slowly recovered his faculties from the
second fall, and exclaimed, " Ah, Crane, Crane. If
I heed you a second time, call me fool. Yesterday
and to-day you triumphed, to-morrow will be my
turn."

" Kwa-le, hwa-le" Miss Crane shrilly cried. " My
tree will stand to-morrow where it stood to-day.
You know the way to it ; if not, your hate will
find it."

Terrapin toddled away upon this to seek the
Lion, to whom, when he had found him, he pleaded
so powerfully that the Lion pitied him greatly,
and answered, " I may not help you in this matter,
for I was not made to climb trees. Go you, and
tell Jackal your story, and he will be able to
advise you."

Acting on the friendly advice, Terrapin sought
out the Jackal, to whom he repeated his lament-
able tale. The Jackal rewarded him with a sym-
pathetic sigh, and said, " Friend Terrapin, my teeth
are sharp and my feet are swift, but, though I am
so happily endowed, I have no wings to fly. Go
and seek Elephant. His strength is so great that
perhaps he will be able to pull the tree down for
you."

Terrapin proceeded on his way to search out the
Elephant, and, after much patient travel, discov-

'"HOLD HARD, TERRAPIN!

THE CUNNING TERRAPIN AND THE CRANE 20?

ered him brooding; under a thick shade. To him
at once Terrapin unburdened his breast of its load
of grief, and appealed piteously for his assistance.

" Little Terrapin," replied the kindly Elephant,
" your tale is dour. But though I am strong,
there are some things that I cannot do. Miss
Crane's house is built on one of the biggest trees
of the forest, and it would require two score of
elephants to drag it down. It is wisdom, and not
strength, that you need. Go you and seek Serpent,
and he will assist you."

Thence Terrapin went to seek Serpent, and,
after long seeking, found him coiled, in many shin-
ing folds, in the fork of a sturdy tree.

" Ah, Serpent," he cried, " you are a kinsman of
mine, and I have long sought you. I am in dire
distress, my friend," and he proceeded to inveigh
against Miss Crane passionately, and concluded by
invoking his assistance.

" Help me this day," cried Terrapin, " and you
shall be my father and my mother, and all my
nearest relations in one."

"It is well," replied the Serpent, in his slow,
deliberate manner. " Miss Crane shall die, and
here I make a pact with you. There shall be no
enmity for all future time between your family
and mine. Go now, and rest in peace, for the fate
of Crane is fixed."

In the darkness of the night Serpent roused

208

MY DARK COMPANION'S

himself from his sleep and, uncoiling himself,
descended the tree and glided noiselessly along the
ground towards Miss Crane's tree. The tall clean

'• POOR MISS CRANE WAS FAST ASLEEP.

shaft could not arrest those spiring movements,
and the Serpent steadily ascended until he gained
the fork. Thence, by an almost imperceptible

THE CUNNING TERRAPIN AND THE CRANE 209

motion, he advanced towards tlie nest. Poor Miss
Crane was fast asleep, dreaming of the fall of
Terrapin, while the Serpent folded his extremity
around a stout branch and stood up prepared to
strike. Quick as one could wink the Serpent
flung himself upon the bird-queen, and in a
moment she lay crushed and mangled. Then,
seizing her body with his jaws, the Serpent slid
down the shaft of the tree and sought Terrapin's
house, and laid her remains before him. Terrapin
was overjoyed, and invited Serpent to share with
him the dainty feast which the body of Miss
Crane supplied.

From that day to this Serpent and Terrapin
have remained close friends, and neither has ever
been known to break the solemn agreement that
was made between them on that day that Ter-
rapin solicited the help of Serpent against the
bird-queen.

14

THE LEGEND OF KIBATTI THE LITTLE
WHO CONQUERED ALL THE GREAT
ANIMALS

HAVE done my
very best to trans-
late this story as
closely as possible
in order to give
the faithful sense
of what Avas said,
yet I despair of
rendering: the little
touches and flour-
ishes which Kadu
knew so well how to give with voice, gesture, and
mobile face.

" Friends and freemen," he said, when we were
all in listening attitude, " if a son of man knows
how to show anger, I need not tell you who are
experienced in travel and in the nature of beasts,
that the animals of the wilds also know how to
show their spite and their passions." The legend
of Kibatti runs upon this.

On a day ages ago the great animals of the

THE LEGEND OF KIBATTI THE LITTLE 211

world, consisting of the elephant, the rhinoceros,
the buffalo, the lion, the leopard, and hyena,
assembled in council in the midst of a forest not
far from a village on the frontier of Uganda. The
elephant being acknowledged by general consent
as the strongest, presided on the occasion.

Waving his trunk, and trumpeting to enjoin
silence, he said : " Friends, we are gathered together
to-day to consider how we may repay in some
measure the injuries daily done to us and our kin
by the sons of men. Not far from here is situated
a village, whence the vicious two-footed animals
issue out to make war upon all of us, who possess
double the number of feet they have. Without
warning of hostility or publishing of cause, they
deliberately leave their conical nests, day by day,
with fellest intent against an}^ of us whom they
may happen to meet during the shining of the sun.
Wherefore we are met upon common grounds to
devise how we may retaliate upon them the wanton
outrages they daily perpetrate upon our unfortu-
nate kind. Personally, I have many injuries to the
elephants of my tribe to remember, and which I am
not likely to forget. It was only a week ago that
a promising child of my sister fell into a deep pit,
and was impaled on a short stake set in the bottom
of it ; and but a few days before my youngest
brother fell head-foremost into a horribly deep
excavation that was dug, and which was artfully

212 MY DARK COMPANIONS

concealed by leaves and grass, whereby none but
those, like myself, experienced in their guileful
arts, could have escaped. Ye have all, I daresay,
been similarly persecuted, and have deep injuries
to revenge. I wait to hear what ye propose.
Brother Rhinoceros, thou art the next to me in
bigness and strength, speak."

" Well, brother Elephant and friends, the words
we have heard are true. The son of man is, of all
creatures that I know, the most wanton in offence
against us of the four-footed tribes. Not a day
passes but I hear moan and plaint from some
sufferer. Not long ago, a cousin, walking quietly
through a wood not far from here, caught his foot
in a vine that lay across the path, and almost
immediately after a hardened and pointed stake
was precipitated from above deep into the jointure
of the neck with the spine, which killed him
instantly, of course. I have, by wonderful good
luck, escaped thus far, but it may be my fate to fall
to-morrow through some foul practice. Wherefore,
I think it were well that we set about doing what
we decide to do instanter. I propose that early in
the morning, before a glint of sunshine be seen, we
set upon the piratical nest and utterly destroy it.
I am so loaded with hate of them, that I could dis-
pose of the half of the rascals myself, before they
could recover their wits. But if any of ye here has
a better plan, I lend my ears to the hearing of it,

TEE LEGEND OF KIBATTI THE LITTLE 213

my heart to the approval of it, and my strength
and fury to the doing of it, without further speech.
I have spoken."

" Now, friend Lion," said the Elephant, turning
solemnly to him, "it is thy turn, and say freely
what thy wit conceives in this matter. Thy cour-
age we all know, and none of us doubt that thy
mind is equal to it."

"Truly, friend Elephant, and ye others, the
business we are met to consider is pressing. The
sons of men are crafty, and their guile is beyond
measure. The four-footed tribes have much cause
of grievance against me and mine. However, none
can accuse me or my family of having taken undue
advantage of those whom we meditate striking.
We always give loud warning, as you all know, and
afterwards strike ; for if we did not do this, few
of even the strongest would escape our vengeance.
But these pestilent, two-footed beasts — -by net, trap,
falling stake, pit, or noose — are unceasing in their
secret malice, and there is no safety in the plain,
bush, or rock-fastness against their wiles. For
what I and my kin do there is good motive — that
of providing meat for ourselves and young ; but it
passes my wit to discover what the son of man
can want with all he destroys. Even our bones —
as, for instance, thy long teeth, O Elephant — they
carry away with them, and even mine. I have
seen the younglings of mankind dangle the teeth of

214 MY DARK COMPANIONS

my sister round their necks, and my hide appears
to be so precious that the king of the village wears
it over his dirty black loins. Thy tribe, O Ele-
phant, have not much cause of complaint against
me, and thou, Rhinoceros, it would tax thy memory
to accuse me of aught against thy family. Brother
Leopard will hold me and mine guiltless of harm
to him ; so also must my cousin Hyena. Friend
Buffalo and our family have sometimes a sharp
quarrel, but there is no malice in it, I swear.
Whereas the son of man, friends, is the common
enemy of us all — it is either our flesh, or our fur,
or our hide, or our teeth that he is wanting, and
his whole thought is bent upon destruction pure
and simple. If ye would follow me, I would glory
in leading ye even now against the community, and
I give ye my word that few would escape my paw
and claw. However, as our object is to destroy
all, that none may escape, I agree with my friend
Rhinoceros that night-time at its blackest is safest.
Wherefore believe me that I am so sharp set for
revenge, and I feel so hollow, that nothing but the
half of all of them will satisfy my thirst for their
blood. I have ended my say."

" Now, friend Leopard, thou hadst better follow
thy cousin, and we will feel obliged to thee for the
benefit of thy advice," said the Elephant.

Leopard gave his tail a quick twirl, and licked
his chops and spoke :

THE LEGEND OF KIBATTI THE LITTLE 217

" All that ye, my friends and cousin, have said,
I heartily agree and bear witness to. The spite of
the son of man towards us is limitless. It is re-
markable, too, for its cold-bloodedness and lack
of passion. We have our own quarrels in the
woods — as ye all know— and they are sharp and
quick while they last, but there is no premeditation
or malignity in what we do to one another ; but
Man, to whom we would rather give a wide berth,
if possible, pursues each of us as if his existence
depended upon the mere slaying, though I observe
that he has abundance of fruit, which ought to
satisfy any reasonable being of the ape tribe.
Wherefore, as I have many sharp reasons for re-
taliation on him for his countless offences against
me and my kin, I gladly attended this council, and
I will go as far as any of ye, and further if I can,
to return some of this spite on him and his tribe.
I propose that night at its darkest is best for our
plan. While the human folk are indulging in
dreams of slaughter of us, I vote that we turn
their dreams into action against themselves. The
elephant, and rhinoceros, and buffalo are strong;
let each lead his tribe to attack, overturn, and
trample down their nests. We, with our families,
will range round and slaughter every one that
escapes them. Those are my words."

" Now, friend Buffalo, what say est thou ? " de-
manded the Elephant. " Thou art a staunch friend

218 MY DARK COMPANIONS

and stout foe. We cannot but listen with respect
to such an one as thyself."

"Ah, friend Elephant, and ye chiefs of tribes,
every sentiment of hostility against the vile and
spiteful sons of man that ye have expressed finds
an echo in my inwards. If wrong has been done
to any here, magnify that wrong tenfold in order
that ye may understand the intensity of the hate I
bear the remorseless destroyers of my kith and kin.
Ask me not how I would slay them, my fury is
so great that I am unfit to devise. Do ye the
devising, and give the method to me. All I can
think of now is the pleasure I shall feel when my
horns are warmed in the bodies of the base and
treacherous creatures who have murdered wife,
brother, sister, and child of mine, besides a count-
less number of my kindred by lance and line, spear
and snare, sword and stake, trick and trap. I will
lead my herd into the midst of the vicious com-
munity with a joy that only my hate can match.
That is all I have to say."

" Now, my good friend Hyena. Thou art the
only one left whose sentiments are as yet unknown.
Speak, and let us hear wisdom from thee in this
matter."

The Hyena uttered a mocking laugh, and said :
" Mv kind friends and cousins : The nisdit suits me
well, for I am in my element then. I may say that
I have a large family which is always hungry. It

THE LEGEND OF KIBATTI THE LITTLE 219

will be a laughing matter to them indeed to hear
of your good purpose. It has been long delayed,
this signal measure of just vengeance upon those
who have outdone in cold cruelty all that genera-
tions of the four-footed tribe of the fiercest kind
have done. Bird and beast, from the smallest to
the greatest, have fallen victims to man's lust for
destruction. True, my kind are often indebted to
man for bones and refuse, but what we have eaten
has been sorely against his good will ; and we there-
fore owe him no gratitude. The young of the
human community will be juicy morsels for my
tribe, when the signal is given for the attack.
With all my heart I say let it be to-night. I have
said my say."

The Elephant then said : " Friends, chiefs of the
most powerful tribes of the forest, let it be to-
night, as ye say. Let each go and muster his
forces, and let the attack be in the following
manner. Half-way betwixt dawn and midnight I
will lead my troop from the Uganda side. The
Rhinoceros will lead his from the Katonga side.
The Buffalo will range his tribe along that side
facing Unyoro. Behind my troop the Hyena and
his families shall follow to finish those who may
be but bruised by our heavy hoofs. Let Leop-
ard place his fellows and kin in rear of the Rhi-
noceros troop. Lion and his great tribe are
needed in rear of Buffalo's forces, for they are apt

220 MY DARK COMPANIONS

in their fury to overlook the crafty bipeds. Our
object is to make a complete job of it. The sooner
we part now, the fitter each will be for the perfect
consummation of his long-deferred revenge."

It was well past midnight when the four-footed
forces were gathered around the doomed village,
and, at the shrill trumpet-note of the King Ele-
phant, the several chiefs led their respective troops
at the charge. The elephants tore on resistlessly,
trampling down the doomed cages of the human
folk flat and level with the ground. The rhino-
ceros and his host pushed on with noses low
down, and tossed the human nests as we would
kick an empty egg-basket ; the buffaloes bellowed
in unison, and, closing their eyes, threw themselves
upon the huts, and gored everything within reach
of their horns. Then the fierce carnivora, all ex-
citement at the prospect of the bloody feast,
roared, snarled, and laughed as they tore the
mangled victims piecemeal. Ah, poor village, and
poor people ! In a short time the dreaming souls
dreamed no more, but were gone past recall into
the regions where dreams are unknown — all ex-
cepting one clever boy named Kibatti, and his
parents, who survived the calamity. These hap-
pened to live in a tiny hut close hidden by a grove
of bananas on the edge of the forest, and Kibatti
about midnight had been disturbed in his sleep
by a pressure on his stomach which woke him,

THE LEGEND OF KIBATTI THE LITTLE 221

and denied him further sleep. He therefore sat
sorrowing over the red embers of his fire, when
he heard the hollow tramp of large animals, and
pricking his ears, he heard trampling in another
direction; whereupon his suspicions that some-
thing unusual was about to happen grew on him,
so that he woke his parents, and bade them listen
to the rumbling sounds that could be heard by
such experienced hunters all around them.

" Father, come, delay not ! make mother rise at
once. This night my sleep has been broken as a
warning to me that mischief is brewing. Let us
ascend the big tree near by and observe."

" Child, you are right," said his father, after
listening a moment ; " the demons of the wilder-
ness are gathered against the village, for human
enemies make no such stir as this. We will ascend
the great tree at once."

Thereupon he drew his wife out.

Kibatti wriggled himself through the burrow
under the milk-weed hedge into the banana-grove,
and having gained its deep shadows, raced for the
great tree, closely followed by his parents. A
large vine hung pendant, and up this vine Kibatti
climbed, his mother after him, the old man last.
Not a moment too soon, for just then the trumpet-
note of the King Elephant was heard, and after-
wards such a concert of noises that neither Kibatti
nor his aged father had ever heard the like before.

222 MY DARK COMPANIONS

In the starlight they saw the huge forms of all
kinds of furious animals pass and repass below
them ; but clinging closely to the shelter of the
giant limbs of the tree, they, from their safe perch,
witnessed the dreadful ending of their friends and
relatives.

When he fully realized the catastrophe and its
completeness, Kibatti suggested to his parents
that they should ascend to the very highest fork,
lest they should be observed in the morning, and
on climbing up they found a snug hiding-place far
above, hidden all round by the thick, fleshy leaves
of the tree. There they remained quiet until
morning, when the boy's restless curiosity became
so strong that he resolved to gratify it. Grasping
close a great limb of the tree, he descended as far
as the lower fork and looked down. He saw all
the huts smashed, and the bones of his tribe white
and gleaming, scattered about. The fences were
all levelled, but the elephants, under their leader,
were re-setting the poles round about. The lions
were pacing watchfully around, the rhinoceroses
and buffaloes were herded separately, gazing upon
the elephants, the leopards were lying down under
the trees in scattered groups, the hyenas were
crunching bones, for these last never know when
they have eaten enough.

Kibatti kept his post all day. By night the
poles fenced the village round about as before, and

THE LEGEND OF KIBATTI THE LITTLE 223

in the dusk he saw the gathering together of all
the creatures in a circle round the King Elejmant,
to hear his rumbling voice delivering an harangue
to the motley allies. When it was ended the
lions roared, the rhinoceroses snorted, the buffaloes
bellowed, the hyenas laughed, and the shrill trum-
petings of the elephants announced that the meet-
ins: was over. What occurred after, Kibatti did
not stay to learn, but climbed aloft to give the
news to his anxious parents.

Said he, " It appears to me, father, that they are
going to build the village up again, for they have
already fenced it around even better, as I think,
than it was before. Those animals have clever
leaders, that is certain, but I am not a man-son
if Kibatti does not get the better of some of
them."

" Oh, you are clever, my child, that is true," said
the old man. " Whatever you undertake to do,
done it is. I have found out that lono- aero. If
wit will get us out of this place of danger, I have
a conviction it will be by yours, and not by mine,
or by my old woman's."

" I do not purpose to leave the tree just yet,
father," replied Kibatti. " If we keep quiet, we
could not find a safer place than here. The tree
is so tall that they cannot hear us talk unless they
set their ears to listen at the foot of it, and against
all that may happen we must provide ourselves."

224 MY DARK COMPANIONS

" Give your confidence to me, boy, and let me
judge of your plan," said the father.

" Well, my idea is this. To-night they will all
start off, some to catch the lesser prey, others to
graze and feed. The leaders, of course, will remain
behind. I propose, after getting three or four
winks of sleep, to go down to the gate and dis-
cover how things are. If possible, I will try and
get my net-ropes. They will be useful for my pur-
pose. We may trap some game, you know."

"I see, I see, my boy. That is a good idea.
Shall I help you ? "

" Not to-night, father, except you keep watch
until yonder bright star stands overhead."

The old man agreed to keep watch until the star
approached the zenith. A little after midnight
Kibatti was waked, and having given his father
injunctions to go to sleep, he descended. He pro-
ceeded straight to his house, and among the
wreckage he found his strong nets and their ropes,
and his sharp huntiug-knife, besides his father's
five spears and his own quiver. These weapons he
conveyed directly to the tree, and bore them up to
the lower fork. This done, he re-descended the
tree and crawled away to a bit of marsh-land not
far off, where there was a crane's nest which con-
tained some eggs. He took these in his hand, and
went around through the bushes to the Unyoro
Road. All this had been done very quickly,

TEE LEGEND OF KIBATTI THE LITTLE 225

because, being a hunter, he knew the neighbour-
hood well, and while watching the animals in the
village, his mind had been busy forming his plans.
Now when he came to the U nyoro Road, he stood
straight up and strode rapidly in the direction of
the village which had been that of his tribe.
Arriving near it he crawled up to the gate and
looked in, then traced the fence all around until
he came back to the same gate.

Kibatti now stood up and hailed the animals,
crying loud,

" Hullo, hullo there ! Are ye all asleep ?
Will ye not let a poor benighted stranger in ?
The night is cold, and I am hungry."

King Buffalo, who was on guard, trotted up to
the gate, and looking out saw a small boy who was
naked, except for a scant robe which depended
from his shoulders.

" Who art thou ? " demanded the buffalo in his
gruffest voice.

Kibatti answered in the thiu voice of a father-
less and starving orphan.

" It is I, Kibatti the Little, from Unyoro."

" What dost thou want ? "

" Only a little fire to roast my eggs, and a place
to sleep. I am a forest-boy, and live alone in
Unyoro. My parents are both dead, and I have
no home. If you will give me work I will stay
with you ; for then I shall have plenty to eat. If

15

226

MY DARK COMPANIONS

not, let me sleep here to-night, and in the morning
I will go."

"IT IS I, KIBATTI THE LITTLE, FROM UNYOBO."

" What work canst thon do ? "
" Not much, but I can fetch water and fuel."
" Wait a minute, I will see if our people will let
thee in."

THE LEGEND OF KIBATTI THE LITTLE 22?

Tlie buffalo moved away and woke up the rhi-
noceros, the elephant, the lion, the leopard, and
hyena, and told them that there was a little forest-
boy seeking a night's lodging. At first the general
belief was, that he belonged to the tribe which had
owned the village, but the buffalo denied that this
boy could have known of the country, as he had
come boldly up to the gate from the Unyoro road ;
besides, was it likely that a small boy, knowing
what had happened, would ever have come back
when those who had destroyed the village were
in possession of it? This last remark settled the
matter. King Elephant said,

" As thou wilt, Buffalo. Even if the matter
were otherwise, a small boy can do no harm. Let
him in. We will give him plenty of work."

King Buffalo opened the gate and allowed
Kibatti to enter, and introduced him to his friends,
King Elephant and the rest, all of whom smiled
as they saw his slender and small form, the only
human amongst them. Buffalo took very kindly
to his protege, and showed him around, while
Kibatti amused him with his innocent unsophisti-
cated prattle, which convinced the kingly bovine
that little Kibatti was indeed a wild-wood waif.

" And where do you all sleep ? " asked Kibatti
of Buffalo.

" I sleep here, near the gate, King Elephant
rests near that big tree. King Lion prefers lying

228 MY DARK COMPANIONS

near that great log there, Brother Rhinoceros
throws himself down on the edge of the banana
grove, Leopard curls himself near the fence, and
Hyena snores stupidly near his pile of bones."

After a little while Buffalo lay down near the
gate for a little rest. Kibatti stretched himself
near him, but not to sleep. His eyes were quite
open, and he soon saw Buffalo's nose rest upon
the ground and his head sway from side to side.
Kibatti then untied a cord, and stealthily passing
it round the four legs of the buffalo, drew the
other end round the neck in a slip noose without
waking him. He then crawled off towards the
elephant, and tied his four legs together, gently
tightening the slip noose, and fastening the rope
three or four times running round, and brought
them all together. To the rhinoceros he did the
same. He then went out of the gate and brought
his bundle of nets. He took one up, fastened one
end to the fence, and drawing it lightly like a
curtain over the form of the sleeping lion, just
hung it on splinters and projections of the fence.
In like manner he secured a net over the leopard,
and another over the hyena. All this did clever
little Kibatti without waking any of them. He
then stole out of the gate a second time, and made
his way to the tree where his parents were sleeping.

" Come, father," he said, " the kings of the herds
are trapped and netted. Bring down mother to

. THE LEGEND OF KIBATTI THE LITTLE 229

the lower fork, and come, do you hasten with me
with a bundle of spears, two bows, and quivers
full of arrows, for Ave must finish the game before
morning."

Completely armed with spears and arrows,
Kibatti led his father to the gate, and stealthily
entered the fenced enclosure, and they stood over
the still-sleeping buffalo. Kibatti gave his father
a sharp-pointed spear, and gently laying his finger
on the vital spot, between neck and head, showed
him where to strike. The father lifted his right
arm high up, and with one stroke severed the
spinal cord. A shiver passed through King
Buffalo's body, and he rolled over stone dead.

Then Kibatti and his father approached King
Lion, who lay lengthways near the log by the
fence, with his side exposed. Kibatti pointed to
his ow^n left side behind the shoulder-blade, and
father and son drew their bows and drove two
arrows into Lion's heart, who sprang up and threw
himself like a ball into the net, which closed round
him taut, and he presently lay still and lifeless.
In the same manner father and son despatched
Leopard and Hyena. There then only remained
Rhinoceros and Elephant.

They chose to attack the first-named beast, who
was still lying down on his side, unconscious of
the tragic fate of his confederates.

Kibatti pointed to the enemy's fore-shoulder and

230 MY DARK COMPANIONS

touched his father with his finger two inches below
the shoulder-blade. His father understood, and.
launched his spear straight into the body with
such force that the blade was buried. King
Rhinoceros, feeling the iron in his vitals, snorted
and struggled to stand, but in doing so tightened
the cords, and fell back rolling half over. Kibatti
drew his bow and buried an arrow close to his

KILLING KING RHINOCKROS.

father's buried spear. Meantime, King Elephant

had taken the alarm, and, struggling with his

bonds, had capsized himself on the ground.

Kibatti gave vent to a war whoop and cried :

"Never mind, father, let the rhinoceros die.

Let us away to the elephant while he is helpless."

They sprang to the prostrate beast, and they

shot their arrows first to every vital point exposed,

and then launched their spears with such good

THE LEGEND OF KIBATTI THE LITTLE 231

effect that before long the last of the kings of the
beasts had ended his life.

Kibatti and his father then flew to where the
old woman crouched in the fork of the tree, and
taking her with them, they left the ruined village,
and sought a home in another district, where,
because of the terrible revenge they had taken on
the forest lords, they were held by their fellow-
creatures all their lives in great esteem.

THE PARTNERSHIP OF RABBIT AND ELE-
PHANT, AND WHAT CAME OF IT

N 1876, while we
were travelling to-
wards the Albert
Edward Nyanza,
Sabadu and Bu-
jomba and others
of our Waganda
escort would join
us at our evening
fire, and when they
found what enter-
tainment was to be
had, they readily yielded to the invitation to
contribute their share to it. Besides, Sabadu was
unequalled in the art of story-telling : he was
fluent and humorous, while his mimicry of the
characters he described kept everybody's interest
on the alert. To the Rabbit of course he gave a
wee thin voice, to the Elephant he gave a deep
bass, to the Buffalo a hollow mooing. When he
attempted the Lion, the veins of his temple and
neck were dreadfully distended as he made the

THE PARTNERSHIP OF RABBIT AND ELEPHANT 233

effort ; but when lie mimicked the Dog, one almost
expected a little terrier-like dog to trot up to the
fire, so perfect was his yaup-yaup.

Every one agreed as Sabadu began his story that
his manner, even his style of sitting and smoothing
his face, the pose of his head, betrayed the man of
practice. The following is his story : —

In Willimesi, Uganda, a Rabbit and an Ele-
phant, coming from different directions, met on a
road one day, and being old friends, stopped to
greet one another, and chat about the weather and
the crops, and to exchange opinions on the state
of trade. Finally the Rabbit proposed that the
Elephant should join him in a partnership to make
a little trading expedition to the Watusi shep-
herds, " because," said he, " I hear there are some
good chances to make profit among them. Cloth,
I am told, is very scarce there, and I think we
might find a good bargain awaiting us." The Ele-
phant was nothing loth, and closed with the offer
of his little friend, and a couple of bales of as-
sorted goods were prepared for the journey.

They set out on particularly good terms with
each other, and Rabbit, who had a good store of
experiences, amused the Elephant greatly. By-
and-by the pair of friends arrived at a river, and
the Elephant, to whom the water was agreeable,
stepped in to cross it, but halted on hearing Rabbit
exclaim :

234 X? DARK COMPANIONS

"Why, Elephant, you surely are not going to
cross without me ? Are we not partners ? "

" Of course we are partners, but I did not agree
to cany you or your pack. Why don't you step
right in ? The water is not deep, it scarcely covers
my feet."

" But, you stupid fellow, can you not see that
what will scarcely cover your feet is more than
enough to drown me, and I can't swim a bit ; and,
besides, if I get my fur wet I shall catch the ague,
and how ever am I to carry my pack across ? "

"Well, I cannot help that. It was you who
proposed to take the journey, and I thought a wise
fellow like you would have known that there were
rivers running across the road, and that you knew
what to do. If you cannot travel, then good-bye.
I cannot stop here all day," and the Elephant
walked on across to the other side.

" Surly rascal," muttered Rabbit. " All right,
my big friend, I will pay you for it some time."

Not far off, however, Rabbit found a log, and
after placing his pack on it, he paddled himself
over, and reached the other bank safely ; but to
his grief he discovered that his bale had been
wetted and damaged.

Rabbit wiped the water up as much as possible,
and resumed the journey with the Elephant, who
had looked carelessly on the efforts of his friend to
cross the river.

THE PARTNERSHIP OF li ABB IT AND ELEPHANT 235

Fortunately for Rabbit, the latter part of the
journey did not present such difficulties, and they
arrived in due time among the Watusi shepherds.

Now at a trade Elephant was not to be compared
with Rabbit, for he could not talk so pleasantly as
Rabbit, and he was not at all sociable. Rabbit
went among the women, and laughed and joked
with them, and said so many funny things, that
they were delighted with him, and when at last
the trade question was cautiously touched upon,
a chief's wife was so kind to him, that she gave a
mighty fine cow in exchange for his little bale of
cloth. Elephant, on the other hand, went among
the men, and simply told them that he had come
to buy cattle with cloth. The Watusi shepherds,
not liking his appearance or his manner, said they
had no cattle to sell, but if he cared to have it,
they would give a year-old heifer for his bale.
Though Elephant's bale was a most weighty one,
and many times more valuable than Rabbit's, yet
as he was so gruff and ugly, he was at last obliged
to be satisfied with the little heifer.

Just as they had left the Watusi to begin their
return journey, Elephant said to Rabbit, " Now
mind, should we meet anyone on the road, and we
are asked whose cattle these are, I wish you to
oblige me by saying that they are mine, because
I should not like people to believe that I am not
as good a trader as yourself. They will also be

236 MY DARK COMPANIONS

afraid to touch them if they know they belong to
me ; whereas, if they hear that they belong to you,
every fellow will think he has as good a right to
them as yourself, and you dare not defend your
property."

" Very well," replied Rabbit, " I quite under-
stand."

In a little while, as Rabbit and Elephant drove
their cattle along, they met many people coming
from market who stopped and admired them, and
said, " Ah, what a fine cow is that ! to whom does
it belong ? "

" It belongs to me," answered the thin voice of
Rabbit. " The little one belongs to Elephant."

" Very fine indeed. A good cow that," replied
the people, and passed on.

Vexed and annoyed, Elephant cried angrily to
Rabbit, " Why did you not answer as I told you ?
Now mind, do as I tell you at the next meeting
with strangers."

" Very well," answered Rabbit, " I will try and
remember."

By-and-by they met another party going home
with fowls and palm wine, who, when they came
up, said, " Ah that is a fine beast, and in prime
order. Whose is it ? "

" It is mine," quickly replied Rabbit, " and the
little scabby heifer belongs to Elephant."

This answer enraged Elephant, who said, " What

THE PARTNERSHIP OF RABBIT AND ELEPHANT 237

an obstinate little fool you are. Did you not hear
me ask you to say it was mine ? Now, remember,
you are to say so next time, or I leave you to find
your own way home, because I know you are a
horrible little coward."

" Very well, I'll do it next time," replied Rabbit
in a meek voice.

In a short time they met another crowd, which
stopped when opposite to them, and the people
said, " Really, that is an exceedingly fine cow. To
which of you does it belong ? "

" It is mine. I bought it from the Watusi," re-
plied Rabbit.

The Elephant was so angry this time, that he
broke away from Rabbit, and drove his little heifer
by another road, and to Lion, and Hyena, and
Buffalo, and Leopard, whom he met, he said what
a fine fat cow was being driven by cowardly little
Rabbit along the other road. He did this out of
mere spite, hoping that some one of them would
be tempted to take it by force from Rabbit.

But Rabbit was wise, and had seen the spite in
Elephant's face as he went off, and was sure that
he would play him some unkind trick; and, as
night was falling and his home was far, and he
knew that there were many vagabonds lying in
wait to rob poor travellers, he reflected that if his
wit failed to save him he would be in great
danger.

238

MY DARK COMPANIONS

True enough, it was not long before a big blus-
tering lion rose from the side of the road, and

"I AM PROUD TO HAVE MET YOU, RABBIT."

cried out, " Hello, you there. Where are you
going with that cow ? Come, speak out."

" Ah, is that you, Lion ? I am taking it to
Mugassa (the deity), who is about to give a feast

THE PARTNERSHIP OF RABBIT AND ELEPHANT 239

to all his friends, and lie told me particularly to
invite you to share it, if I should meet you."

" Eh ? What ? To Mugassa ? Oh, well, I am
proud to have met you, Rabbit. As I am not
otherwise engaged I will accompany you, because
everyone considers it an honour to wait upon
Mugassa."

They proceeded a little further, and a bouncing
buffalo came up and bellowed fiercely. " You,
Rabbit, stop," said he. "Where are you taking
that cow to ? "

"I am taking it to Mugassa, don't you know.
How would a little fellow like me have the courage
to go so far from home if it were not that I am on
service for Mugassa ? I am charged also to tell
you, Buffalo, that if you like to join in the feast
Mugassa is about to give, he will be glad to have
you as a guest."

" Oh, well, that is good news indeed. I will
come along now, Rabbit, and am very glad to have
met you. How do you do, Lion ? "

A short distance off the party met a huge rogue
elephant, who stood in the middle of the road, and
demanded to know where the cow was being taken,
in a tone which required a quick answer.

u Now, Elephant, get out of the way. This cow
is being taken to Mugassa, who will be angry with
you if I am delayed. Have you not heard of the
feast he is about to give ? By the bye, as you are

240

MY DARK COMPANIONS

one of the guests, you might as well help me to
drive this cow, and let me get on your back, for I
am dreadfully tired."

"Why, that's grand," said the Elephant. "I
shall be delighted to feast with Mugassa, and —

" A POWERFUL CROWD BEHIND THE COW."

come get on my back. I will carry you with
pleasure. And, Rabbit," whispered Elephant, as
he lifted him by his trunk, " don't forget to speak
a good word for me to Mugassa."

Soon a leopard and then a hyena were met, but
seeing such a powerful crowd behind the cow,
they affected great civility, and were invited to
accompany Rabbit's party to Mugassa's feast.

THE PARTNERSHIP OF RABBIT AND ELEPHANT 24 £

It was quite dark by the time they arrived at
Rabbit's village. At the gate stood two dogs, who
were Rabbit's chums, and they barked furiously ;
but hearing their friend's voice, they came up and
welcomed Rabbit.

The party halted, and Rabbit, after reaching the
ground, whispered to Dogs how affairs stood, and
Dogs wagged their tails approvingly, and yauped
with fun as they heard of Rabbit's wit. It did not
take long for Dogs to understand what was re-
quired of them, and one of them bounded off to
the village, and after a short time returned with a
pretended message from the great Mugassa.

" Well, my friends, do you hear what Mugassa
says ? " cried Rabbit, with a voice of importance.

" Dogs are to lay mats inside the village by the
gate, and the cow is to be killed, and the meat pre-
pared nicely and laid on the mats. And when
that is done, Mugassa himself will come and give
each his portion. He says that you are all very
welcome.

" Now listen to me before I go in to Mugassa,
and I will show you how you can all help to hurry
the feast, for I am sure you are all anxious to
begin.

" You, Hyena, you must kill the cow, and dress
the meat, and Dogs will carry it in and lay it on
the mats ; but remember, if a bit is touched before
Mugassa commands, we are all ruined.

16

242 MY DARK COMPANIONS

"You, Elephant, you take this brass hatchet
of Mugassa's, and split wood nicely for the
hearth.

" Buffalo, you go and find a wood with a smooth
bark and which burns well, and. bring it to Ele-
phant.

" Leopard, you go to the banana plantation, and
watch for the falling leaf and catch it with your
eyelids, in order that we may have proper plates.

"Lion, my friend, do you go and fill this pot
from the spring, and bring water that Mugassa
may wash his hands."

Having issued his instructions, Rabbit went
strutting into the village ; but after he had gone
a little way he darted aside, and passing through a
side door, went out and came creeping up towards
an ant-hill. On the top was a tuft of grass, and
from his hiding-place he commanded a view of the
gate, and of all who might come near it.

Now Buffalo could only find one log with
smooth bark, and Dogs shouted out to Buffalo that
one log was not enough to roast or to boil the
meat, and he returned to hunt up some more.

Elephant struck the log with his brass hatchet,
which was broken at the first blow, and there was
nothing else with which to cut the wood.

Leopard watched and watched for falling leaves,
but failed to see any.

Lion's pot had a hole in the bottom, and he

The Partnership of rabbit and ElEphaNT 245

could never keep it full, though he tried ever so
many times.

Meanwhile Hyena having killed the cow and
dressed the meat beautifully, said to Dogs, " Now,
my friends, the meat is ready. What shall I do ? "

" You can help us carry the meat in, and lay it
on the mats, if you like, for Mugassa must see
it before anybody can touch it."

" Ah, but I feel extremely hungry, and my mouth
waters so that I am sick with longing. May we
not go shares and eat a little bit ? It looks very
nice and fat," whined the Hyena.

u Ah, no, we should not dare do such a thing.
We have long ago left the woods, and its habits,
and are unfit for anything but human society ; but
if you were allowed to eat any, you could fly into
the woods, and we should have all the blame. No,
no, come, help us carry it inside. You will not
have to wait long."

The Hyena was obliged to obey, but contrived
to hide in the grass some of the tripe. Rabbit,
from behind his tuft of grass, saw it all, and winked
in the dark.

When the meat was in, Dogs said, " It is all
right now. Just stay outside until the other
fellows arrive."

Hyena retired, and when he was outside of the
gate searched for his tripe, and lay down quietly
to enjoy it, but as he was about to bite it, Rabbit

246 MY DARK COMPANIONS

screamed, "Ah, you thief, Hyena. You thief, I
see you. Stop thief, Mugassa is coming."

These cries so alarmed Hyena that he dropped
his tripe, and fled away as fast as his legs could
carry him, and the others, Buffalo, Elephant, Lion,
and Leopard, tired out with waiting, and hearing
these alarming cries, also ran away, leaving Rabbit
and his dog friends in quiet possession. They
carried the tripe into the village, and closed the
gate and barred it, after which they laughed loud
and long, Rabbit rolling on the ground over and
over with the fun of it all.

My friends, Rabbit was the smallest of all, but
by his wisdom he was more than a match for two
Elephants, Buffalo, Leopard, Lion, Hyena, and all.
And even his friends, the Dogs, had to confess
that Rabbit's wit could not be matched. That is
my tale.

THE ADVENTURES OF SAKUTI

HAVE a poor mem-
ory for legend s,"
said Bujomba, one
night, while we were
in camp at Benga :
" but I remember
what a young Mton-
gole (colonel) named
Saruti related to
Mtesa after his re-
turn from an expedi-
tion to the frontier
of Unyoro. What a head that man had, and such
eyes ! Mtesa was ever fond of a good story, and
loved to question those whom he sent to distant
countries, until you might say that there was
nothing left in a man worth hearing after he had
done with him. But Saruti did not need any
questioning. He talked on and on without stop-
ping, until Mtesa could not sit up longer for sheer
weariness. These are among the things he said
that he had witnessed on his journey. You must

US MY DARK COMPANIONS

not ask me if I believe all that he said. All I
can say is that they might havre happened, or been
seen by many men, but I never could quite under-
stand how it was that Saruti alone was so lucky
as to see all the things he talked about. Anyhow,
he was very amusing, and Mtesa laughed heartily
many times as he listened to him."

Kabaka, I think my charms which my father
suspended round my neck must be very powerful.
I am always in luck. I hear good stories on my
journey, I see strange things which no one else
seems to have come across. Now on this last
journey, by the time I reached Singo, I came to a
little village, and as I was drinking banana wine
with the chief, he told me that there were two
lions near his village who had a band of hyenas
to serve as soldiers under them. They used to
send them out in pairs, sometimes to one district,
and sometimes to another, to purvey food for them.
If the peasants showed fight, they went back and
reported to their masters, and the lions brought
all their soldiers with them, who bothered them
so that they were glad to leave a fat bullock tied
to a tree as tribute. Then the lions would take
the bullock and give orders that the peasant who
paid his tribute should be left in peace. The
chief declared this to be a fact, having had re-
peated proof of it.

At the next place, which is Mbagwe, the man

THE ADVENTURES OF SARUTI 249

Buvaiya, who is in charge, told me that when he
went a short time before to pay his respects
to the Muzimu (the oracle) of the district, he met
about thirty hohorwa on the road, hunting close
together for snakes, and that as soon as they saw
him, they charged at him, and would have killed
him had he not run up a tree. He tells me that
though they are not much bigger than rabbits,
they are very savage, and make travelling alone
very dangerous. I think they must be some
kind of small dogs. Perhaps the old men of the
court may be better able to tell you what they
are.

At the next village of Ngondo a smart boy
named E-utuana was brought to me, who was said
to have been lately playing with a young friend
of the same age at long stick and little stick (tip-
cat ?). His friend hit the little stick, and sent it
a great way, and Rutuana had to fetch it from the
long grass. While searching for it, one of those
big serpents which swallow goats and calves caught
him, and coiled itself around him. Though he
screamed out for help, Rutuana laid his stick
across his chest, and clutching hold of each end
with a hand, held fast to it until help came. His
friend ran up a tree, and only helped him by
screaming. As the serpent could not break the
boy's hold of the stick, he was unable to crush his
ribs, because his outstretched arms protected them ;

250

MY DARK COMPAMOZS

but when he was nearly exhausted the villagers
came out with spears and shields. These fellows,

RUTUANA LAID HIS STICK ACROSS HIS CHEST.

however, were so stupid that they did not know
how to kill the serpent until Rutuana shouted to
them : " Quick ! draw your bows and shoot him

THE ADVENTURES OF SARUTI 251

through the neck." A man stepped forward then,
and when close to him pierced his throat with
the arrow, and as the serpent uncoiled himself to
attack the men, Rutuana fell down. The ser-
pent was soon speared, and the boy was carried
home. I think that boy will become a great war-
rior.

At the next village the peasants were much dis-
turbed by a multitude of snakes which had col-
lected there for some reason. They had seen
several long black snakes which had taken lodg-
ing in the ant-hills. These had already killed
five cows, and lately had taken to attacking the
travellers along the road that leads by the ant-
hills, when an Arab, named Massoudi, hearing of
their trouble, undertook to kill them. He had
some slaves with him, and he clothed their legs
with buffalo hide, and placed cooking-pots on
their heads, and told them to go among the ant-
hills. When the snakes came out of their holes
he shot them one by one. Among the reptiles he
killed were three kinds of serpents which pos-
sessed horns. The peasants skinned them, and
made bags of them to preserve their charms. One
kind of horned snake, very thick and short, is said
to lay eggs as large as those of fowds. The muba-
rasassa, which is of a greyish colour, is also said
to be able to kill elephants.

I then went to Kyengi, beyond Singo, and the

252 MY DARK COMPANIONS

peasants, on coming to gossip with me, rather up-
set me with terrible stories of the mischief done
by a big black leopard. It seems that he had first
killed a woman, and had carried the body into the
bush ; and another time had killed two men while
they were setting their nets for some small ground
game. Then a native hunter, under promise of
reward from the chief, set out with two spears to
kill him. He did not succeed, but he said that
he saw a strange sight. As he was following the
track of the leopard, he suddenly came to a little
jungle, with an open space in the middle. A large
wild sow, followed by her litter of little pigs, was
rooting about, and grunting as pigs do, when he
saw the monstrous black leopard crawl towards
one of the pigs. Then there was a shrill squeal
from a piggie, and the mother, looking up, dis-
covered its danger, at which it furiously charged
the leopard, clashing her tusks and foaming at the
mouth. The leopard turned sharp round, and
sprang up a tree. The sow tried to jump up after
it, but being unable to reach her enemy in that
way, she set about working hard at the roots.
While she was busy about it the peasant ran
back to obtain a net and assistants, and to get his
hunting-dog. When he returned, the sow was still
digging away at the bottom of the tree, and had
made a great hole all round it. The pigs, fright-
ened- at seeing so many men, trotted away into the

THE ADVENTURES OF SARUfl 253

bush, and the liunter and his friends prepared to
catch the leopard. They pegged the net all about
the tree, then let loose the dog, and urged him to-
wards the net. As he touched the net, the hunters
made a great noise, and shouted, at which the
leopard bounded from the tree, and with one
scratch of his paw ripped the dog open, sprang
over the net, tapped one of the men on the shoul-
der, and was running away, when he received a
wound in the shoulder, and stopped to bite the
spear. The hunters continued to worry him, until
at last, covered with blood, he lay down and
died.

One day's journey beyond Kyengi, I came to
the thorn-fenced village of some Watusi shepherds,
who, it seems, had suffered much from a pair of
lion cubs, which were very fierce. The headman's
little boy was looking after some calves when the
cubs came and quietly stalked him through the
grass, and caught him. The headman took it so
much to heart, that as soon as he heard the news
he went straight back to his village and hanged
himself to a rafter. The Watusi love their fam-
ilies very much, but it seems to be a custom with
these herdsmen that if a man takes his own life,
the body cannot be buried, and though he was a
headman, they carried it to the jungle, and after
leaving it for the vultures, they returned and set
fire to his hut, and burnt it to the ground. When

254 MY DARK COMPANIONS

they had done that, the Watusi collected together
and had a long hunt after the young lions, but as
yet they have not been able to find them.

When the sun was half way up the sky, I came
from Kyengi to some peasants, who lived near a
forest which is affected by the man-monkeys called
nzike (gorilla ?). I was told by them that the
nzike know how to smoke and make fire just as we
do. It is a custom among the natives, when they see
smoke issuing through the trees, for them to say,
" Behold, the nzike is cooking his food." I asked
them if it were true that the nzike carried off
women to live with them, but they all told me
that it was untrue, though the old men sometimes
tell such stories to frighten the women, and keep
them at home out of danger. Knowing that I was
on the king's business, they did not dare tell me
their fables.

By asking them all sorts of questions, I was
shown to a very old man with a white beard, with
whom I obtained much amusement. It appears he
is a great man at riddles, and he asked me a great
many.

One was, " What is it that always goes straight
ahead, and never looks back ? "

I tried hard to answer him, but when finally he
announced that it was a river, I felt very foolish.

He then asked me, " What is it that is bone
outside and meat within ? "

"tried to jump up after the leopard."

THE ADVENTURES OF SARUTI 257

The people laughed, and mocked me. Then he
said that it was an egg, which was very true.

Another question he gave me was, " What is it
that looks both ways when you pass it ? "

Some said one thing, and some said another, and
at last he answered that it was grass.

Then he asked me, " What good thing was it
which a man eats, and which he constantly fastens
his eyes upon while he eats, and after eating,
throws a half away ? " I thought and considered,
but I never knew what it was until he told me
that it was a roasted ear of Indian corn.

That old man was a very wise one, and among
some of his sayings was that " When people dream
much, the old moon must be dying."

He also said that " When the old moon is dying,
the hunter need never leave home to seek game,
because it is well known that he would meet
nothing."

And he further added, that at that time the
potter need not try to bake any pots, because the
clay would be sure to be rotten.

Some other things which he said made me think
a little of their meaning.

He said, " When people have provisions in their
huts, they do not say, Let us go into another man's
house and rob him."

He also said, " When you see a crookback, you
do not ask him to stand straight, nor an old man

17

258 MY DARK COMPANIONS

to join the dance, nor the man who is in pain, to
laugh."

And what he said about the traveller is very
true. The man who clings to his own hearth does
not tickle our ears, like him who sees many lands,
and hears new stories.

The next day I stopped at a village near the
little lake of Kitesa's called Mtukura. The chief
in charge loved talking so much, that he soon
made me as well acquainted with the affairs of
his family as though he courted my sister. His
people are accustomed to eat frogs and rats, and
from the noise in the reeds, and the rustling and
squealings in the roof of the hut I slept in, I think
there is little fear of famine in that village. Nor
are they averse, they tell me, to iguanas and those
vile feeders, the hyenas.

It is a common belief in the country that it
was Naraki, a wife of Uni, a sultan of Unyoro,
who made that lake. While passing through, she
was very thirsty, and cried out to her Muzimu
(spirit), the Muzimu which attends the kings
of Unyoro, and which is most potent. And all
at once there was a hissing flight of firestones
(meteorites) in the air, and immediately after,
there was a fall of a monstrously large one, which
struck the ground close to her, and made a great
hole, out of which the water spurted and con-
tinued leaping up until a lake was formed, and

THE ADVENTURES OF SARUTI 259

buried the fountain out of sight, and the rising
waters formed a river, which has run north from
the lake ever since into the Kafu.

Close by this lake is a dark grove, sacred to
Muzingeh, the king of the birds. It is said that
he has only one eye, but once a year he visits the
grove, and after building his house^ he commands
sill the birds from the Nyanzas and the groves, to
come and see him and • pay itheir: homage. For half
a moon the birdSj great and small, maybe seen
following him about along the shores of the lake,
like so many guards around a king; and before
night they are seen returning in the same manner
to > the grove. The parrots' cries tell t e natives
when they come, and no on would care to miss
the sight, and the glad excitement among the
feathered tribe. But there is one bird, called the
Kiruramu, that refuses to acknowledge the sov-
ereignty of the Muzingeh. The other birds have
tried often to induce him to associate with the
Muzingeh; but Kirurumu always answers that a
beautiful creature like himself, with gold and blue
feathers, and such a pretty crest, was never meant
to be seen in the company of an ugly bird that
possesses only one eye. .;

On the other side of Lake Mtukura is a forest
where Dungu, the king of the animals, lives. It is
to Dungu that all the hunters pray when they set
out to seek for game. He builds first a small hut,

2G0 MY DARK COMPANIONS

and after propitiating him with a small piece of
flesh, he asks Dungu that he may be successful.
Then Dungu enters into the hunter's head, if he is
pleased with the offering, and the cunning of the
man becomes great ; his nerves stiffen, and his
bowels are strengthened, and the game is secured.
When Dungu wishes a man to succeed in the hunt,
it is useless for the buffalo to spurn the earth and
moo, or for the leopard to cover himself with sand
in his rage — the spear of the hunter drinks his
blood. But the hunter must not forget to pay the
tribute to the deity, lest he be killed on the way
home.

The friendly chief insisted that I should become
his blood-fellow, and stay with him a couple of
days. The witch-doctor, a man of great influence
in the country, was asked to unite us. He took a
sharp little knife, and made a gash in the skin of
my right leg, just above the knee, and did the
same to the chief, and then rubbed his blood over
my wound, and my blood over his, and we became
brothers. Among his gifts was this beautiful
shield, which I beg Mtesa, my Kabaka, to accept,
because I have seen none so beautiful, and it is
too good for a colonel whose only hope and wish
is to serve his king.

I am glad that I rested there, because I saw a
most wonderful sight towards evening. As we
were seated under the bananas, we heard a big he-

THE ADVENTURES OF SARUTI 261

goat's bleat, and by the sound of it we knew that
it was neither for fun nor for love. It was a tone
of anger and fear. Almost at the same time, one
of the boys rushed up to us, and his face had really
turned grey from fear, and he cried, " There is a
lion in the goat-pen, and the big he-goat is fighting
with him." They had forgotten to tell me about
this famous goat, which was called Kasuju, after
some great man who had been renowned in war,
and he certainly was worth speaking about, and
Kasuju was well known round about for his won-
derful strength and fighting qualities. When we
got near the pen with our spears and shields, the
he-goat was butting the lion — who was young, for
he had no mane — as he might have butted a pert
young nanny-goat, and baaing with as full a note
as that of a buffalo calf. It appears that Kasuju
saw the destroyer creeping towards one of his
wives, and dashing at his flank knocked him down.
As we looked on from the outside, we saw that
Kasuju was holding his own very well, and we
thought that we would not check the fight, but
prepare ourselves to have a good cast at the lion
as he attempted to leave. The lion was getting
roused up, and we saw the spring he made : but
Kasuju nimbly stept aside and gave him such a
stroke that it sounded like a drum. Then Kasuju
trotted away in front of his trembling wives, and
as the lion came up, we watched him draw his ears

262 "MY BARK COMPANIONS

back as he raised himself on his hind feet like a
warrior. The lion advanced to him, and he like-
wise rose as though he would wrestle with him,
when Kasuju shot into his throat with so true and
fair a stroke, that drove one of his horns deep into
the throat. It was then the lion's claws began to
work, and with every scratch poor Kasuju's hide
was torn dreadfully, but he kept his horn in the
wound, and pushed home, and made the wound
large. Then the lion sprang free, and the blood
spurted all over Kasuju. Blinded with his torn
and hanging scalp, and weakened with his wounds,
he staggered about, pounding blindly at his enemy,
until the lion gave him one mighty stroke with its
paw, and* sent him headlong, and then seized him
by the neck and shook him, and we heard the cruel
crunch as the fangs met. But it was the last effort
of the lion, for just as Kasuju was lifeless, the lion
rolled over him, dead also. Had my friend told
me this story, I should not have believed him, but
as I saw it with my own eyes, I am bound to
believe it. We buried Kasuju honourably in a
grave, as we would bury a brave man ; but the
lion we skinned, and I have got his fur with the
rasped hole in the throat.

The singular fight we had witnessed, furnished
us all with much matter for talk about lions, and
it brought into the mind of one of them a story of
a crocodile and lion fight which had happened some

THE ADVENTURES OF SARUTI

263

time before in the night. Lake Mtukura swarms
with crocodiles, and situated as it is in a region
of game they must be fat with prey. One night a
full-grown lion with a fine mane came to cool his
dry throat in the lake, and was quaffing water,
when he felt his nose seized by something that
rose up from below.

From the traces of the struggle by the water's

edge, it must have been a terrible one. The croc-
odile's long claws had left deep marks, showing
how he must have been lifted out of the water,
and flung forcibly down ; but in the morning both
lion and crocodile were found dead, the crocodile's
throat wide open with a broad gash, but his teeth
still fastened in the lion's nose.

264 MY DARK COMPANIONS

Saruti had not half finished his stories when he
felt, by seeing Mtesa yawn, that though his adven-
tures were very interesting, and he was quite ready
to continue, yet it would be to his advantage to
dock his tongue for the time being. So he said,
" Kabaka, the wise old man whom I met, told me
one thing I had nearly forgotten to say. He said,
1 1 know you are a servant of the king, and if ever
you want the king's face to soften to you and his
hand to open with gifts, compare yourself to the
lid of a cooking-pot, which, though the pot may
be full of fragrant stew, receives naught but the
vapour, and the king who is wise will understand
and will be pleased with his servant.' '

" Very well said indeed, Saruti," cried Mtesa,
laughing. " I understand. The lid must share
with the pot this time. Steward," he said, turning
to Kauta, " see that six head of cattle be driven
to Saruti's cattle-pen;" and Saruti twiyanzied
(thanked with prostrations) so often that his head
swam.

THE BOY KINNENEH AND THE GORILLA

is in such stories as
the Fable of the
Rabbit, the Leopard
and the Goat, the
Dog and the little
Chicken, the Leop-
ard, the Sheep and
the Dove, the Crane,
the Leopard and the
Sheep, the Rabbit
and the Lion, the
Cow and the Lion,
the Lion and his mane, the Rabbit and the
Leopard, and the boy Kinneneh and the Gorilla,
that Kadu, our accomplished relator of legends,
shone. It is not with a wish to be unkind to
Kadu that I say he showed only too well that
according to him cunning was to be preferred
to strength. Perhaps he was right, though cun-
ning is a word in much discredit with us nowa-
days, because we are accustomed to ally it with
deception and fraud, but we will put the best
possible construction on it out of admiration for

266 MY DARK COMPANIONS

and gratitude to Kadu, and claim that his cun-
ning, which was the moral of most of his stories,
was a kind of illegitimate wisdom, or a permissi-
ble artfulness. None of us, at least, but sympa-
thised with Kadu's dumb heroes when, by a little
pleasant cheat or sly stratagem, the bullying
buffalo got the worst of an encounter with the
sharp-witted rabbit, or when the dog got the
better of his sour mistress the leopardess, or when
rabbit put to shame the surly elephant, or when
Kibatti conquered the kings of the animal tribes.
The legend of Kinneneh and the Gorilla was
another story which evidently was meant by
Kadu and the unknown ancient of Uganda who
invented it to illustrate that cunning is mightier
than strength. He told it in this wise :

In the early days of Uganda, there was a small
village situate on the other side of the Katonga,
in Buddu, and its people had planted bananas and
plantains which in time grew to be quite a large
grove, and produced abundant and very fine fruit.
From a grove of bananas when its fruit is ripe
there comes a very pleasant odour, and when a
puff of wind blows over it, and bears the fragrance
towards you, I know of nothing so well calculated
to excite the appetite, unless it be the smell of
roasted meat. Anyhow, such must have been the
feeling of a mighty big gorilla, who one day, while
roaming about alone in the woods searching for

THE BOY KINNENEIl AND THE GORILLA 2G7

nuts to eat, stopped suddenly and stood up and
sniffed for some time, with his nose well out in
the direction of the village. After awhile he
shook his head and fell on all fours again to
resume his search for food. Again there came
with a whiff of wind a strong smell of ripe bana-
nas, and he stood on his feet once more, and with
his nose shot out thus he drew in a greedy breath
and then struck himself over the stomach, and
said :

" I thought it was so. There are bananas that
way, and I must get some."

Down he fell on all fours, and put out his arms
with long stretches, just as a fisherman draws in a
heavy net, and is eager to prevent the escape of
the fish.

In a little while he came to the edge of the
grove, and stood and looked gloatingly on the
beautiful fruit hanging in great bunches. Presently
he saw something move. It was a woman bent
double over a basket, and packing the fruit neatly
in it, so that she could carry a large quantity at
one journey.

The gorilla did not stay long thinking, but
crawled up secretly to her ; and then with open
arms rushed forward and seized her. Before the
woman could utter her alarm he had lifted her and
her basket and trotted away with them into the
deepest bush. On reaching his den he flung the

•iuS MY DARK COMPANIONS

woman on the ground, as you would fling dead
meat, and bringing the banana basket close to him,
his two legs hugging it close to his round paunch,
he began to gorge himself, muttering while he
peeled the fruit strange sounds. By-and-by the
woman came to her senses, but instead of keeping
quiet, she screamed and tried to run away. If it
were not for-that movement and noise, she perhaps
might have been able to creep away unseen, but
animals of all kinds never like to be disturbed
while eating, so Gorilla gave one roar of rage, and
gave her such a squeeze that the breath was clean
driven out of her. When she was still he fell to
again, and tore the peeling off the bananas, and
tossed one after another down his wide throat,
until there was not one of the fruit left in the
basket, and the big paunch was swollen to twice
its first size. Then, after laying his paw on the
body to see if there was any life left in it, he
climbed up to his nest above, and curled himself
into a ball for a sleep.

When he woke he shook himself and yawned,
and looking below he saw the body of the woman,
and her empty basket, and he remembered what
had happened. He descended the tree, lifted the
body and let it fall, then took up the basket, looked
inside and outside of it, raked over the peelings of
the bananas, but could not find anything left to
eat.

HE LIFTED THE WOMAN AND HKR BASKET AND TROTTED AWAY.

TEE BOY KINNENEE AND TEE GORILLA 271

He began to think, scratching the fur on his
head, on his sides, and his paunch, picking up one
thing and then another in an absent-minded way.
And then he appeared to have made up a plan.

Whatever it was, this is what he did. It was
still early morning, and as there was no sign of a
sun, it was cold, and human beings must have been
finishing their last sleep. He got up and went
straight for the plantation. On the edge of the
banana grove he heard a cock crow ; he stopped
and listened to it ; he became angry.

" Some one," he said to himself, " is stealing my
bananas." and with that he marched in the direc-
tion where the cock was crowing.

He came to the open place in front of the village,
and saw several tall houses much larger than his
own nest ; and while he was looking at them, the
door of one of them was opened, and a man came
out. He crept towards him, and before he could
cry out the gorilla had squeezed him until his ribs
had cracked, and he was dead ; he flung him down,
and entered into the hut. He there saw a woman,
who was blowing a fire on the hearth, and he took
hold of her and squeezed her until there was no
life left in her body. There were three children in-
side, and a bed on the floor. He treated them also
in the same way, and they were all dead. Then
he went into another house, and slew all the people
in it, one with a squeeze, another with a squeeze

272 MY DARK COMPANIONS

and a bite with his great teeth, and there was not
one left alive. In this way he entered into five
houses and killed all the people in them, but in
the sixth house lived the boy Kinneneh and his
old mother.

Kinneneh had fancied that he heard an unusual
sound, and he had stood inside with his eyes close
to a chink in the reed door for some time when he
saw something that resembled what might be said
to be half animal and half man. He walked like
a man, but had the fur of a beast. His arms were
long, and his body was twice the breadth and
thickness of a full-grown man. He did not know
what it was, and when he saw it go into his neigh-
bours' houses, and heard those strange sounds, he
grew afraid, and turned and woke his mother, say-
ing,

" Mother, wake up ! there is a strange big beast

in our village killing our people. So wake up
quickly and follow me."

" But whither shall we fly, my son ? " she whis-
pered anxiously.

" Up to the loft, and lie low in the darkest
place," replied Kinneneh, and he set her the ex-
ample and assisted his mother.

Now those Uganda houses are not low-roofed
like these of Congo-land, but are very high, as
high as a tree, and they rise to a point, and near
the top there is a loft where we stow our nets,

THE BOY KINNENEH AND THE GORILLA 273

and pots, and where our spear-shafts and bows are
kept to season, and where our corn is kept to dry,
and green bananas are stored to ripen. It was in
this dark lofty place that Kinneneh hid himself
and his mother, and waited in silence.

In a short time the gorilla put his head into
their house and listened, and stepping inside he
stood awhile, and looked searchingly around. He
could see no one and heard nothing stir. He
peered under the bed-grass, into the black pots
and baskets, but there was no living being to be
found.

"Ha, ha," he cried, thumping his chest like a
man when he has got the big head. " I am the boss
of this place now, and the tallest of these human
nests shall be my own, and I shall feast every day
on ripe bananas and plantains, and there is no one
who can molest me — ha, ha ! "

" Ha, ha ! " echoed a shrill, piping voice after
his great bass.

The gorilla looked around once more, among the
pots, and the baskets, but finding nothing walked
out. Kinneneh, after awhile skipped down the
ladder and watched between the open cane-work
of the door, and saw him enter the banana-grove,
and waited there until he returned with a mighty
load of the fruit. He then saw him go out again
into the grove, and bidding his mother lie still and
patient, Kinneneh slipped out and ascended into

18

274 MY DARK COMPANIONS

the loft of the house chosen by the gorilla for his
nest, where he hid himself and waited.

Presently the gorilla returned with another load
of the fruit, and, squatting on his haunches, com-
menced to peel the fruit, and fill his throat and
mouth with it, mumbling and chuckling, and
saying,

" Ha, ha ! This is grand ! Plenty of bananas
to eat, and all — all my own. None to say, ' Give
me some,' but all my very own. Ho, ho ! I shall
feast every day. Ha, ha ! "

" Ha, ha," echoed the piping voice again.

The gorilla stopped eating and made an ugly
frown as he listened. Then he said :

"That is the second time I have heard a thin
voice saying, ' Ha, ha ! ' If I only knew who he
was that cried * Ha, ha ! ' I would squeeze him,
and squeeze him until he cried, ' Ugh, ugh ! ' "

" Ugh, ugh ! " echoed the little voice again.

The gorilla leaped to his feet and rummaged
around the pots and the baskets, took hold of the
bodies one after another and dashed them against
the floor, then went to every house and searched,
but could not discover who it was that mocked
him.

In a short time he returned and ate a pile of
bananas that would have satisfied twenty men,
and afterwards he went out, saying to himself
that it would be a good thing to fill the nest with

TllE BOY KINNENEH AND THE GORILLA 275

food, as it was a bore to leave the warm nest each
time he felt a desire to eat.

No sooner had he departed than Kinneneh
slipped down, and carried every bunch that had
been left away to his own house, where they were
stowed in the loft for his mother, and after enjoin-
ing his mother to remain still, he waited, peering
through the chinks of the door.

He soon saw Gorilla bearing a pile of bunches
that would have required ten men to carry, and
after flino-ino; them into the chief's house, return to
the plantation for another supply. While Gorilla
was tearing down the plants and plucking at the
bunches, Kinneneh was actively engaged in trans-
ferring what he brought into the loft by his
mother's side. Gorilla made many trips in this
manner, and brought in great heaps, but somehow
his stock appeared to be very small. At last his
strength was exhausted, and feeling that he could
do no more that day, he commenced to feed on
what he had last brought, promising to himself
that he would do better in the morning.

At dawn the gorilla hastened out to obtain a
supply of fruit for his breakfast, and Kinneneh
took advantage of his absence to hide himself
overhead.

He was not long in his place before Gorilla
came in with a huge lot of ripe fruit, and after
making himself comfortable on his haunches with

276 MY DARK COMPANIONS

— ■- ...— . ■ ■ ■ - ■ i.i- i ~i

a great bunch before him he rocked himself to
and fro, saying while he munched :

" Ha, ha ! Now I have plenty again, and I
shall eat it all myself. Ha, ha ! "

"Ha, ha," echoed a thin voice again, so close
and clear it seemed to him, that leaping up he
made sure to catch it. As there appeared to be
no one in the house, he rushed out raging, champ-
ing his teeth, and searched the other houses, but
meantime Kinneneh carried the bananas to the
loft of the gorilla's house, and covered them with
bark-cloth.

In a short time Gorilla returned furious and
disappointed, and sat down to finish the breakfast
he had only begun, but on putting out his hands
he found only the withered peelings of yesterday's
bananas. He looked and rummaged about, but
there was positively nothing left to eat. He was
now terribly hungry and angry, and he bounded
out to obtain another supply, which he brought in
and flung on the floor, saying,

"Ha, ha ! I will now eat the whole at once — all
to myself, and that other thing which says, ' Ha,
ha ! ' after me, I will hunt and mash him like
this," and he seized a ripe banana and squeezed it
with his paw with so much force that the pulp
was squirted all over him. " Ha, ha ! " he cried.

" Ha, ha ! " mocked the shrill voice, so clear that
it appeared to come from behind his ear.

THE BOT KINNENEH AND THE GORILLA 277

This was too much to bear ; Gorilla bounded up
and vented a roar of rage. He tossed the pots,
the baskets, the bodies, and bed-grass about —
bellowing so loudly and funnily in his fury that
Kinneneh, away up in the loft, could scarcely for-
bear imitating; him. But the mocker could not be
found, and Gorilla roared loudly in the open place
before the village, and tore in and out of each
house, looking for him.

Kinneneh descended swiftly from his hiding-
place, and bore every banana into the loft as
before.

Gorilla hastened to the plantation again, and so
angry was he that he uprooted the banana-stalks
by the root, and snapped off the clusters with
one stroke of his great dog-teeth, and having got
together a large stock, he bore it in his arms to
the house.

" There," said he, " ha, ha ! Now I shall eat in
comfort and have a long sleep afterwards, and if
that fellow who mocks me comes near — ah ! I
would — " and he crushed a big bunch in his arms
and cried, " ha, ha ! "

" Ha, ha ! Ha, ha ! " cried the mocking voice ;
and again it seemed to be at the back of his head.
Whereupon Gorilla flung his arms behind in the
hope of catching him, but there was nothing but
his own back, which sounded like a damp drum
with the stroke.

278 MY DARK COMPANIONS

" Ha, ha ! Ha, ha ! " repeated the voice, at
which Gorilla shot out of the door, and raced
round the house, thinking that the owner was
flying before him, but he never could overtake the
flyer. Then he went around outside of the other
houses, and flew round and round the village, but
he could discover naught. But meanwhile Kinne-
neh had borne all the stock of bananas up into
the loft above, and when Gorilla returned there
was not one banana of all the great pile he had
brought left on the floor.

When, after he was certain that there was
not a single bit of a banana left for him to eat, he
scratched his sides and his legs, and putting his
hand on the top of his head, he uttered a great cry
just like a great, stupid child, but the crying did
not fill his tummy. No, he must have bananas for
that — and he rose up after awhile and went to
procure some more fruit.

But when he had brought a great pile of it and
had sat down with his nice-smelling bunch before
him, he would exclaim, " Ha, ha ! Now — now I
shall eat and be satisfied. I shall fill myself with
the sweet fruit, and then lie down and sleep. Ha,
ha!"

Then instantly the mocking voice would cry out
after him, " Ha, ha ! " and sometimes it sounded
close to his ears, and then behind his head, some-
times it appeared to come from under the bananas

THE BOY KINSEXEII AXD THE GORILLA ^79

and sometimes from the doorway — that Gorilla
would roar in fury, and lie would grind his teeth
just like two grinding-stones, and chatter to him-

Mii

"he would roar in fury, and race about the village."

self, and race about the village, trying to discover
whence the voice came, but in his absence the fruit
would be swept away by his invisible enemy, and
when he would come in to finish his meal, lo ! there

280 MY DAliK COMPANIONS

were only blackened and stained banana peelings
— the refuse of his first feast.

Gorilla would then cry like a whipped child, and
would go again into the plantation, to bring some
more fruit into the house, but when he returned
with it he would always boast of what he was
going to do, and cry out " Ha, ha ! " and instantly
his unseen enemy would mock him and cry " Ha,
ha ! " and he would start up raving and screaming
in rage, and search for him, and in his absence his
bananas would be whisked away. And Gorilla's
hunger grew on him, until his paunch became like
an empty sack, and what with his hunger and grief
and rage, and furious raving and racing about, his
strength was at last quite exhausted, and the end
of him was that on the fifth day he fell from weak-
ness across the threshold of the chiefs house, which
he had chosen to make his nest, and there died.

When the people of the next village heard of
how Kinneneh, a little boy, had conquered the
man-killing gorilla, they brought him and his
mother away, and they gave him a fine new house
and a plantation, and male and female slaves to
tend it, and when their old king died, and the
period of mourning for him was over, they elected
wise Kinneneh to be king over them.

"Ah, friends," said Safeni to his companions,
after Kadu had concluded his story, " there is no
doubt that the cunning of a sou of man prevails

THE BOY KINNENEH AND THE GORILLA 281

over the strongest brute, and it is well for us,
Mashallali ! that it should be so ; for if the ele-
phant, or the lion, or the gorilla possessed but
cunning equal to their strength, what would be-
come of us ! "

And each man retired to his hut, congratulating
himself that he was born a man-child, and not a
thick, muddle-headed beast.

THE CITY OF THE ELEPHANTS

RASTER," said Kas-
siin, one of the
Basoko boys,
" B a r u t i's tales
have brought back
from anions for-
gotten things a
legend I once
knew very well.
Ah, I wish I could remember more, but little by
little the stories that I used to hear in my child-
hood from my mother and the old woman who
would come and sit with her, will perhaps return
again into the mind. I should never have thought
of this that I am about to repeat to you now had
it not been that Baruti's legends seem to recall
as though they were but yesterday the days that
came and went uncounted in our Basoko village.
This legend is about the City of the Elephants
that one of my countrymen and his wife came
across in the far past time, in the manner that I
shall tell you."

THE CITY OF THE ELEPHANTS 283

A Bungandu man named Dudu, and his wife
Salimba, were one day seeking in the forest a long
way from the town for a proper redwood-tree,
ont of which they could make a wooden mortar
wherein they could pound their manioc. They
saw several trees of this kind as they proceeded,
but after examining one, and then another, they
would appear to be dissatisfied, and say, u Perhaps
if we went a little further we might find a still
better tree for our purpose."

And so Dudu and Salimba proceeded further
and further into the tall and thick woods, and
ever before them there appeared to be still finer
trees which would after all be unsuited for their
purpose, being too soft, or too hard, or hollow, or
too old, or of another kind than the useful redwood.
They strayed in this manner very far. In the
forest where there is no path or track, it is not
easy to tell which direction one came from, and
as they had walked round many trees, they were
too confused to know which way they ought to
turn homeward. When Dudu said he was sure
that his course was the right one for home,
Salimba was as sure that the opposite was the
true way. They agreed to walk in the direction
Dudu wished, and after a long time spent on it,
they gave it up and tried another, but neither took
them any nearer home.

The night overtook them and they slept at the

284 MY DARK COMPANIONS

foot of a tree. The next day they wandered still
farther from their town, and they became anxious
and hungry. As one cannot see many yards off
on any side in the forest, an animal hears the
coming step long before the hunter gets a chance
to use his weapon. Therefore, though they heard
the rustle of the flying antelope, or wild pig as it
rushed away, it only served to make their anxi-
ety greater. And the second day passed, and when
night came upon them they were still hungrier.

Towards the middle of the third day, they came
into an open place by a pool frequented by
Kiboko (hippo), and there was a margin of grass
round about it, and as they came in view of it,
both, at the same time, sighted a grazing buffalo.

Dudu bade his wife stand behind a tree while
he chose two of his best and sharpest arrows, and
after a careful look at his bow-string, he crept up
to the buffalo, and drove an arrow home as far as
the guiding leaf, which nearly buried it in the
body. While the beast looked around and started
from the twinge within, Dudu shot his second
arrow into his windpipe, and it fell to the ground
quite choked. Now here was water to drink and
food to eat, and after cutting a load of meat they
chose a thick bush-clump a little distance from the
pool, made a fire, and, after satisfying their hun-
ger, slept in content. The fourth day they stopped
and roasted a meat provision that would last many

THE CITY OF THE ELEPHANTS

285

days, because they knew that luck is not constant
in the woods.

On the fifth they travelled, and for three days
more they wandered. They then met a young
lion who, at the sight of them, boldly advanced,
but Dudu sighted his bow, and sent an arrow into

DUDU AND HIS WIFE MEET A YOUNG LION.

his chest which sickened him of the fight, and he
turned and fled.

A few days afterwards, Dudu saw an elephant
standing close to them behind a high bush, and
whispered to his wife :

" Ah, now, we have a chance to get meat enough
for a month."

286 MY BARK COMPANIONS

" But," said Salimba, " why should you wish to
kill him, when we have enough meat still with us ?
Do not hurt him. Ah, what a fine back he has,
and how strong he is. Perhaps he would carry us
home."

" How could an elephant understand our
wishes?" asked Dudu.

" Talk to him anyhow, perhaps he will be clever
enough to understand what we want."

Dudu laughed at his wife's simplicity, but to
please her he said, " Elephant, we have lost our
way; will you carry us and take us home, and we
shall be your friends for ever."

The Elephant ceased waving his trunk, and nod-
ding to himself, and turning to them said —

" If you come near to me and take hold of my
ears, you may get on my back, and I will carry
you safely."

When the Elephant spoke, Dudu fell back from
surprise, and looked at him as though he had not
heard aright, but Salimba advanced with all con-
fidence, and laid hold of one of his ears, and pulled
herself up on to his back. When she was seated,
she cried out, " Come, Dudu, what are you looking
at ? Did you not hear him say he would cany
you ? "

Seeing his wife smiling and comfortable on the
Elephant's back, Dudu became a little braver and
moved forward slowly, when the Elephant spoke

THE CITY OF THE ELEPHANTS 287

again, " Come, Dudu, be not afraid. Follow your
wife, and do as she did, and then I will travel
home with you quickly."

Dudu then put aside his fears, and his surprise,
and seizing the Elephant's ear, he ascended and
seated himself by his wife on the Elephant's back.

Without another word the Elephant moved on
rapidly, and the motion seemed to Dudu and
Salimba most delightful. Whenever any over-
hanging branch was in the way, the Elephant
wrenched it off, or bent it and passed on. No
creek, stream, gulley, or river, stopped him, he
seemed to know exactly the way he should go, as
if the road he was travelling was well known to
him.

When it was getting dark he stopped and asked
his friends if they would not like to rest for
the night, and finding that they so wished it, he
stopped at a nice place by the side of the river, and
they slid to the ground, Dudu first, and Salimba
last. He then broke dead branches for them, out
of which they made a fire, and the Elephant stayed
by them, as though he was their slave.

Hearing their talk, he understood that they
would like to have something better than dried
meat to eat, and he said to them, " I am glad to
know your wishes, for I think I can help you.
Bide here a little, and I will go and search."

About the middle of the night he returned to

288 MY DARK COMPANIONS

them with something white in his trunk, and a
young antelope in front of him. The white thing
was a great manioc root, which he dropped into
Salimba's lap.

" There, Salimba," he said, " there is food for
you, eat your fill and sleep in peace, for I will
watch over you."

Dudu and Salimba had seen many strange things
that day, but they were both still more astonished
at the kindly and intelligent care which their friend
the Elephant took of them. While they roasted
their fresh meat over the flame, and the manioc
root was baking under the heap of hot embers, the
Elephant dug with his tusks for the juicy roots of
his favourite trees round about their camp, and
munched away contentedly.

The next morning, all three, after a bathe in the
river, set out on their journey more familiar wdth
one another, and in a happier mood.

About noon, while they were resting during the
heat of the day, two lions came near to roar at
them, but when Dudu was drawing his bow at one
of them, the Elephant said :

" You leave them to me ; I will make them run
pretty quick," saying which he tore off a great
bough of a tree, and flourishing this with his trunk,
he trotted on the double quick towards them, and
used it so heartily that they both skurried away
with their bellies to the ground, and their hides

THE CITY OF THE ELEPHANTS 289

shrinking and quivering out of fear of the great
rod.

In the afternoon the Elephant and his human
friends set off again, and some time after they came
to a wide and deep river. He begged his friends
to descend while he tried to find out the shallow-
est part. It took him some time to do this ; but,
having discovered a ford where the water was not
quite over his back, he returned to them, and urged
them to mount him as he wished to reach home
before dark.

As the Elephant was about to enter the river,
he said to Dudu, " I see some hunters of your own
kind creeping up towards us. Perhaps they are
your kinsmen. Talk to them, and let us see whether
they be friends or foes."

Dudu hailed them, but they gave no answer,
and, as they approached nearer, they were seen to
prepare to cast their spears, so the Elephant said,
" I see that they are not your friends ; therefore,
as I cross the river, do you look out for them, and
keep them at a distance. If they come to the
other side of the river, I shall know how to deal
with them."

They got to the opposite bank safely ; but, as
they were landing, Dudu and Salimba noticed that
their pursuers had discovered a canoe, and that
they were pulling hard after them. But the Ele-
phant soon after landing came to a broad path

19

200 MY DARK COMPANIONS

smoothed by much travel, over which he took
them at a quick pace, so fast, indeed, that the
pursuers had to run to be able to keep up with
them. Dudu, every now and then let fly an arrow
at the hunters, which kept them at a safe distance.
Towards night they came to the City of the
Elephants, which was very large and fit to shelter
such a multitude as they now saw. Their ele-
phant did not linger, however, but took his friends
at the same quick pace until they came to a mighty
elephant that was much larger than any other, and
his ivories were gleaming white and curled up, and
exceedingly long. Before him Dudu and Salimba
were told by their friend to descend and salaam,
and he told his lord how he had found them lost
in the woods, and how for the sake of the kindly
words of the Avoman he had befriended them, and
assisted them to the city of his tribe. When the
King Elephant heard all this he was much
pleased, and said to Dudu and Salimba that they
were welcome to his city, and how they should
not want for anything, as long as they would be
pleased to stay with them, but as for the hunters
who had dared to chase them, he would give
orders at once. Accordingly he gave a signal,
and ten active young elephants dashed out of the
city, and in a short time not one of the hunters
was left alive, though one of them had leaped into
the river, thinking that he could escape in that

THE CITY OF THE ELEPHANTS 293

manner. But then you know that an elephant is
as much at home in a river, as a Kiboko,* so that
the last man was soon caught and was drowned.

Dudu and Salimba, however, on account of
Salimba's kind heart in preventing her husband
wounding the elephant, were made free of the
place, and their friend took them with him to
many families, and the big pa's and ma's told their
little babies all about them and their habits, and
said that, though most of the human kind were
very stupid and wicked, Dudu and Salimba were
very good, and putting their trunks into their ears
they whispered that Salimba was the better of the
two. Then the little elephants gathered about
them and trotted by their side and around them
and diverted them with their antics, their races,
their wrestlings, and other trials of strength, but
when they became familiar and somewhat rude
in their rough play, their elephant friend would
admonish them, and if that did not suffice, he
would switch them soundly.

The City of the Elephants was a spacious and
well-trodden glade in the midst of a thick forest,
and as it was entered one saw how wisely the
elephant families had arranged their manner of
life. For without, the trees stood as thick as
water-reeds, and the bush or underwood was like
an old hedge of milkweed knitted together by

* A hippopotamus.

2U4 MY DARK COMPANIONS

thorny vines and snaky climbers into which the
human hunter might not even poke his nose with-
out hurt. Well, the burly elephants had, by much
uprooting, created deep hollows, or recesses, where-
in a family of two and more might snugly rest,
and not even a dart of sunshine mio;ht reach them.
Round about the great glade the dark leafy arches
ran, and Dudu and his wife saw that the elephant
families were numerous — for by one sweeping
look they could tell that there were more elephants
than there are human beings in a goodly village.
In some of the recesses there was a row of six
and more elephants ; in another the parents stood
head to head, and their children, big and little,
clung close to their parents' sides; in another a
family stood with heads turned towards the
entrance, and so on all around — while under a big
tree in the middle there was quite a gathering of
big fellows, as though they were holding a serious
palaver ; under another tree one seemed to be on
the outlook; another paced slowly from side to
side ; another plucked at this branch or at that ;
another appeared to be heaving a tree, or sharpen-
ing a blunted ivory ; others seemed appointed to
uproot the sprouts, lest the glade might become
choked with underwood. Near the entrance on
both sides were a brave company of them, faces
turned outward, swinging their trunks, flapping
their ears, rubbing against each other, or who with

THE CITY OF THE ELEPHANTS 295

pate against pate seemed to be drowsily consider-
ing something. There was a continual coming in
and a going out, singly, or in small companies.
The roads that ran through the glade were like a
network, clean and smooth, while that which
went towards the king's place was so wide that
twenty men might walk abreast. At the far end
the king stood under his own tree, with his family
under the arches behind him.

This was the City of the Elephants as Dudu and
Salimba saw it. I ought to say that the outlets of
it were many. One went straight through the
woods in a line up river, at the other end it ran in
a line following the river downward; one went to
a lakelet, where juicy plants and reeds throve like
corn in a man's fields, and where the elephants re-
joiced in its cool water, and washed themselves and
infants ; another went to an ancient clearing where
the plantain and manioc grew wild, and wherein
more than two human tribes might find food for
countless seasons.

Then said their friend to Dudu and Salimba —

" Now that I have shown you our manner of life,
it is for you to ease your longing for awhile and
rest with us. When you yearn for home, go tell
our king, and he will send you with credit to your
kindred."

Then Dudu and his wrife resolved to stay, and
eat, and they stayed a whole season, not only un-

29G MY DARK COMPANIONS

hurt, but tenderly cared for, with never a hungry
hour or uneasy night. But at last Salimba's heart
remembered her children, and kinfolk, and her own
warm house and village pleasures, and on hinting
of these memories to her husband, he said that after
all there was no place like Bungandu. He remem-
bered his long pipe, and the talk house, the stool-
making, shaft-polishing, bow-fitting, and the little
tinkering jobs, the wine-trough, and the merry
drinking bouts, and he wept softly as he thought
of them.

They thus agreed that it was time for them to
travel homeward, and together they sought the
elephant king, and frankly told him of their state.

" My friends," he replied, " be no longer sad, but
haste to depart. With the morning's dawn guides
shall take you to Bungandu with such gifts as shall
make you welcome to your folk. And when you
come to them, say to them that the elephant king
desires lasting peace and friendship with them.
On our side we shall not injure their plantations,
neither a plantain, nor a manioc root belonging to
them ; and on your side dig no pits for our unwary
youngsters, nor hang the barbed iron aloft, nor
plant the poisoned stake in the path, so we shall
escape hurt and be unprovoked." And Dudu put
his hand on the king's trunk as the pledge of good
faith.

In the morning, four elephants, as bearers of the

THE CITY OF THE ELEPHANTS 297

gifts from the king — bales of bark-cloth, and showy
mats, and soft hides and other things — and two
fighting elephants besides their old friend, stood
by the entrance to the city, and when the king
elephant came up he lifted Salimba first on the
back of her old companion, and then placed Dudu
by her side, and at a parting wave the company
moved on.

In ten days they reached the edge of the planta-
tion of Bungandii, and the leader halted. The
bales were set down on the ground, and then their
friend asked of Dudu and his wife —

" Know you where you are ? "

" We do," they answered.

"Is this Buno-andu ?" he asked.

" This is Bungandu," they replied.

" Then here we part, that we may not alarm
your friends. Go now your way, and we go our
way. Go tell your folk how the elephants treat
their friends, and let there be peace for ever
between us."

The elephants turned away, and Dudu and
Salimba, after hiding their wealth in the under-
wood, went arm in arm into the village of Bun-
gandu. AVhen their friends saw them, they
greeted them as we would greet our friends
whom we have long believed to be dead, but
who come back smilinir and rejoicing to us.
When the peoj3le heard their story they greatly

298 MY DARK COMPANIONS

wondered and doubted, but when Dudu and
Salimba took them to the place of parting and
showed them the hoof prints of seven elephants
on the road, and the bales that they had hidden
in the underwood, they believed their story. And
they made it a rule from that day that no man of
the tribe ever should lift a spear, or draw a bow,
or dig a pit, or plant the poisoned stake in the
path, or hang the barbed iron aloft, to do hurt to
an elephant. And as a proof that I have but told
the truth go ask the Bungandu, and they will say
why none of their race will ever seek to hurt the
elephant, and it will be the same as I have told
you. That is my story.

THE SEARCH FOR THE HOME OF

THE SUN

E had a man named
Kanga with us in
1883, which name
seems to have beeii
bestowed on him
by some Islam-
ised resident of
Nyangwe by reason
of some fancied
suggestion made by
some of his facial
marks to the spots on a guinea-fowl. Kanga had
not spoken as yet by the evening tire, but had
been an amused listener. When the other tale-
tellers were seen sporting their gay robes on the
Sunday, it may have inspired him to make an
effort to gain one for himself ; anyhow, he sur-
prised us one night by saying that he knew of a
tale which perhaps we would like to hear. As
Kano-a's tribe was the Wasoimora-Meno on the
right bank of the Lualaba, between Nyangwe and

300 MY DARK COMPANIONS

Stanley Falls, the mere mention of a tale from
that region was sufficient to kindle my interest.

After a few suitable compliments to Kanga,
which were clearly much appreciated, he spoke
as follows:

Master and friends. We have an old phrase
among us which is very common. It is said that
he who waits and waits for his turn, may wait too
long, and lose his chance. My tongue is not nim-
ble like some, and my words do not flow like the
deep river. I am rather like the brook which is
fretted by the stones in its bed, and I hope after
this explanation you will not be too impatient
with me.

My tale is about King Masama and his tribe,
the Balira, who dwelt far in the inmost region,
behind (east) us, who throng the banks of the
great river. They were formerly very numerous,
and many of them came to live among us, but one
day King Masama and the rest of the tribe left
their country and went eastward, and they have
never been heard of since, but those who chose to
stay with us explained their disa2)pearance in this
way.

A woman, one cold night, after making up her
fire on the hearth, went to sleep. In the middle
of the night the fire had spread, and spread, and
began to lick up the litter on the floor, and from
the litter it crept to her bed of dry banana leaves,

THE SEARCH FOR THE HOME OF THE SUN 301

and in a little time shot up into flames. When
the woman and her husband were at last awakened
by the heat, the flames had already mounted into
the roof, and were burning furiously. Soon they
broke through the top and leaped up into the
night, and a gust of wind came and carried the
long flames like a stream of fire towards the

"Tllli VIM, AUK WAS KNTIItKIA' BUIiNIiD."

neighbouring huts, and in a short time the fire had
caught hold of every house, and the village was
entirely burned. It was soon known that besides
burning up their houses and much property, sev-
eral old people and infants had been destroyed by
the fire, and the people were horror-struck and
angry.

302 MY DARK COMPANIONS

Then one voice said, " We all know in whose
house the fire began, and the owner of it must
make our losses good to us."

The woman's husband heard this, and was
alarmed, and guiltily fled into the woods.

In the morning a council of the elders was held,
and it was agreed that the man in whose house
the fire commenced should be made to pay for his
carelessness, and they forthwith searched for him.
But when they sought for him he could not be
found. Then all the young warriors who were
cunning in wood-craft, girded and armed them-
selves, and searched for the trail, and when one of
them had found it, he cried out, and the others
gathered themselves about him and took it up,
and when many eyes were set upon it, the trail
could not be lost.

They soon came up to the man, for he was
seated under a tree, bitterly weeping.

Without a word they took hold of him by the
arms and bore him along with them, and brought
him before the village fathers. He was not a
common man by any means. He was known as
one of Masama's principal men, and one whose
advice had been often followed.

" Oh," said everybody, " he is a rich man, and
well able to pay ; yet, if he gives all he has got, it
will not be equal to our loss."

The fathers talked a long time over the matter,

i HE SEARCH FOR THE HOME OF THE SUN 303

and at last decided that to save his forfeited life
he should freely turn over to them all his prop-
erty. And he did so. His plantation of bananas
and plantains, his plots of beans, yams, manioc,
potatoes, ground-nuts, his slaves, spears, shields,
knives, paddles and canoes. When he had
given up all, the hearts of the people became
softened towards him, and they forgave him the
rest.

After the elder's property had been equally
divided among the sufferers by the fire, the people
gained new courage, and set about rebuilding their
homes, and before long they had a new village,
and they had made themselves as comfortable as
ever.

Then King Masama made a law, a very severe
law — to the effect that, in future, no fire should
be lit in the houses during the day or night ; and
the people, who were now much alarmed about
fire, with one heart agreed to keep the law. But
it was soon felt that the cure for the evil was as
cruel as the fire had been. For the houses had
been thatched with green banana leaves, the tim-
bers were green and wet with their sap, the floor
was damp and cold, the air was deadly, and the
people began to suffer from joint aches, and their
knees were stiff, and the pains travelled from one
place to another through their bodies. The village
was filled with groaning.

304 Ht DARK COMPANIONS

Masama suffered more than all, for lie was old.
He shivered night and day, and his teeth chattered
sometimes so that he could not talk, and after that
his head would burn, and the hot sweat would
pour from him, so that he knew no rest.

Then the king gathered his chiefs and principal
men together, and said :

" Oh, my people, this is unendurable, for life is
with me now but one continuous ague. Let us
leave this country, for it is bewitched, and if I
stay longer there will be nothing left of me. Lo,
my joints are stiffened with my disease, and my
muscles are withering. The only time I feel a
little ease is wheu I lie on the hot ashes without
the house, but when the rains fall I must needs
withdraw indoors, and there I find no comfort, for
the mould spreads everywhere. Let us hence at
once to seek a warmer clime. Behold whence the
sun issues daily in the morning, hot and glowing ;
there, where his home is, must be warmth, and we
shall need no fire. What say you ? "

Masama's words revived their drooping spirits.
They looked towards the sun as they saw him
mount the sky, and felt his cheering glow on their
naked breasts and shoulders, and they cried with
one accord : " Let us hence, and seek the place
whence he comes."

And the people got ready and piled their
belongings in the canoes, and on a certain day

THE SEARCH FOR THE HOME OF THE SUN 305

they left their village and ascended their broad
river, the Lira. Day after day they paddled up
the stream, and we heard of them from the
Bafanya as they passed by their country, and the
Bafanya heard of them for a long distance up —
from the next tribe — the Bamoru — and the Bamoru
heard about them arriving near the Mountain Land
beyond.

Not until a Ions; time afterwards did we hear
what became of Masama and his people.

It was said that the Balira, when the river had
become shallow and small, left their canoes and
travelled by land among little hills, and after
winding in and out amongst them they came to
the foot of the tall mountain which stands like a
graudsire amongst the smaller mountains. Up the
sides of the big mountain they straggled, the
stronger and more active of them ahead, and as
the days passed, they saw that the world was cold
and dark until the sun showed himself over the
edge of the big mountain, when the day became
more agreeable, for the heat pierced into their
very marrows, and made their hearts rejoice. The
greater the heat became, the more certain were
they that they were drawing near the home of the
sun. And so they pressed on and on, day after
day, winding along one side of the mountain, and
then turning to wind a«;ain still higher. Each
day, as they advanced towards the top, the heat

20

300 MY DARK COMPANIONS

became greater and greater. Between them and
the sun there was now not the smallest shrub or
leaf, and it became so fiercely hot that finally not
a drop of sweat was left in their bodies. One day,
when not a cloud was in the sky, and the world
was all below them — far down like a great buffalo
hide — the sun came out over the rim of the moun-
tain like a ball of fire, and the nearest of them to
the top were dried like a leaf over a flame, and
those who were behind were amazed at its burning
force, and felt, as he sailed over their heads, that
it was too late for them to escape. Their skins
began to shrivel up and crackle, and fall off, and
none of those who were high up on the mountain
side were left alive. But a few of those who were
nearest the bottom, and the forest belts, managed
to take shelter, and remaining there until night,
they took advantage of the darkness, when the sun
sleeps, to fly from the home of the sun. Except a
few poor old people and toddling children, there
was none left of the once populous tribe of the
Balira.

That is my story. We who live by the great
river have taken the lesson, which the end of this
tribe has been to us, close to our hearts, and it is
this. Kings who insist that their wills should be
followed, and never care to take counsel with their
people, are as little to be heeded as children who
babble of what they cannot know, and therefore

"none of those who were high up on the mountain side weiS:
left aeive."

THE SEARCH FOR THE HOME OF THE SUN 309

in our villages we have many elders who take all
matters from the chief and turn them over in their
minds, and when they are agreed, they give the
doing of them to the chief, who can act only as
the elders decree.

A HOSPITABLE GORILLA

iIR," said Baruti,
after we had all
gathered around the
evening fire, and
were waiting expect-
ant for the usual
story, " Kassim's tale
about the City of
the Elephants and
the peace that was
entered into between
the elephants and
the Bungandu has
reminded me of what happened between a tribe
living on the banks of the little Black River above
the Basoko, and a Gorilla."

"Wallahi, but these Basoko boys beat every-
body for telling stories," exclaimed a Zanzibari.
"I wonder, however, whether they invent them,
or they really have heard them from their old
folk, as they say they did."

" We heard them, of course," replied Baruti, with
an indignant look ; " for how could Kassim or I

A HOSPITABLE GORILLA 31 1

imagine such things? I heard something each day
almost from the elders, or the old women of the
tribe. My mother also told me some, and my big
brother told me others. At our village talk-house,
scarcely a day passed but we heard of some strange
thing which had happened in old times. It is this
custom of meeting around the master's fire, and
the legends that we hear, that reminds us of what
we formerly heard, and by thinking and thinking
over them the words come back anew to us."

" But do you think these things of which you
talk are true ? " the Zanzibari asked.

"True ! " he echoed. " Who am I that I should
say, This thing is true, and that is false ! I but
repeat what my betters said. I do not speak of
what I saw, but of what I heard, and the master's
words to us were : 'Try and remember what was
said to you in your villages by the ancients among
your people, and if you will tell it to me properly,
I will give you a nice cloth.' Well, when our old
men were in good-humour, and smoked their long
pipes, and the pot of wine was by their side, and
we asked them to tell us somewhat about the days
when they were young, they would say, ' Listen to
this now,' and they would tell us of what happened
long ago. It is the things of long ago that we
remember best, because they were so strange that
they clung on the mind, and would not altogether
be forgotten. If there is aught unpleasing in

312 MY DARK COMPANIONS

them, it is not our fault, for we but repeat the
words that entered into our ears." s

" That will do, Baruti ; go on with your story ;
and you, Baraka, let your tongue sleep," cried
Zaidi.

" I but asked a question. Ho ! how impatient
you fellows are ! "

" Nay, this is but chatter — we shall never hear
the story at this rate. Hyah ! Barikallah ! *
Baruti."

Well (began Baruti), this tribe dwelt on the
banks of the Black River just above Basoko town,
and at that time of the far past the thick forest
round about them was haunted by many mon-
strous animals ; big apes, chimpanzees, gorillas and
such creatures, which are not often seen nowadays.
Not far from the village, in a darksome spot where
the branches met overhead and formed a thick
screen, and the lower wood hedged it closely round
about so that a tortoise could scarcely penetrate it„
there lived the Father of the Gorillas. He had
housed himself in the fork of one of the tallest
trees, and many men had seen the nest as they
passed by, but none as yet had seen the owner.

But one day a fisherman in search of rattans to
make his nets, wandered far into the woods, and in
trying to recover the direction home struck the
Black River high up. As he stood wondering

* Hurry on, in God's name [

A HOSPITABLE GORILLA 313

whether this was the black stream that flowed
past his village, he saw, a little to the right of him,
an immense gorilla, who on account of the long
dark fur on his chest appeared to be bigger than
he really was. A cold sweat caused by his great
fear began to come out of the man, and his knees
trembled so that he could hardly stand, but when
he perceived that the gorilla did not move, but
continued eating his bananas, he became comforted
a little, and his senses came back. He turned his
head around, in order to see the clearest way for a
run ; but as he was about to start, he saw that the
gorilla's eyes were fixed on him. Then the gorilla
broke out into speech and said :

" Come to me, and let me look at thee."

The fisherman's fear came back to him, but he
did as he was told, and when he thought he was
near enough, he stood still.

Then the gorilla said :

" If thou art kin to me, thou art safe from harm ;
if not, thou canst not pass. How many fingers
hast thou ? " he asked.

"Four," the fisherman answered, and he held a
hand up with its back towards the gorilla, and his
thumb was folded in on the palm so that it could
not be seen by the beast.

" Aye — true indeed. Why, thou must be a kins-
man of ours, though thy fur is somewhat scanty.
Sit down and take thy share of this food, and eat."

314 MY DARK COMPANIONS

The fisherman sat down, and broke off bananas
from the stalk and ate heartily.

" Now mind," said the gorilla, " thou hast eaten
food with me. Shouldst thou ever meet in thy
wanderings any of my brothers, thou must be kind
to them in memory of this day. Our tribe has no
quarrel with any of thine, and thy tribe must have
none against any of mine. I live alone far down
this river, and thy tribe lives further still. Mind
our password, ' Tu-wheM, Tu-whelV By that we
know who is friendly and who is against us."

The fisherman departed, and speeding on his
way reached his village safely ; but he kept secret
what he had seen and met that day.

Some little time after, the tribe resolved to have
a grand hunt around their village, to scare the
beasts of the forest away ; for in some things they
resemble us. If we leave a district undisturbed
for a moon or so, the animals think that we have
either departed the country or are afraid of them.
The apes and the elephants are the worst in that
respect, and always lead the way, pressing on our
heels, and often sending their scouts ahead to re-
port, or as a hint to us that we are lingering too
long.

The people loaded themselves with "their great
nets, and first chose the district where the Gorilla
Father lived. They set their nets around a wide
space, and then the beaters were directed to make

A HOSPITABLE GORILLA 317

a large sweep and drive all the game towards the
nets, and here and there where the netting was
weak, the hunters stood behind a thick bush, their
heavy spears ready for the fling.

Well, it just happened that at that very time
the Father of the Gorillas was holding forth to his
kinsmen, and the first they knew of the hunt, and
that a multitude of men were in the woods, was
when they heard the horrid yells of the beaters,
the sound of horns, the jingle of iron, and the all-
round swish of bushes.

The fisherman, like the rest of his friends, was
well armed, and he was as keen as the others for
the hunt, but soon after he heard the cries of the
beaters, he saw a large gorilla rushing out of the
bushes, and knew him instantly for his friend,
and he cried out " Tu-wlieli ! Tu-wJieli ! " At the
sound of it the gorilla led his kinsmen towards
him, and passed the word to those behind, saying,
" Ah, this is our friend. Do not hurt him."

The gorillas passed in a long line of mighty fel-
lows, close by the fisherman, and as they heard the
voice of their father, they only whispered to him,
" Tti-wheli, Tu-wheli" but the last of all was a big,
sour-faced gorilla, who, when he saw that the pass
was only guarded by one man, made a rush at him.
His roar of rage was heard by the father, and turn-
ing back he knew that his human brother was in
danger, and he cried out to those nearest to part

318 MY DARK COMPANIONS

them, " The man is our brother ; " but as the fierce
gorilla was deaf to words, the father loped back
to them, and slew him, and then hastened away
as the hunters were pressing up.

These, when they came up and observed that
the fisherman's spear was still in his hand, and not
painted with blood, were furious, and they agreed
together that he should not have a share of the
meat, " For," said they, " he must have been in a
league against us." Neither did he obtain any
share of the spoil.

A few days after this the fisherman was pro-
ceeding through a part of the forest, and a gorilla
met him in the path, and said :

" Stay, I seem to know thee. Art thou not our
brother ? "

" Tu-wheli, Tu-wheli ! " he dried.

" Ah, it is true, follow me ; " and they went to-
gether to the gorilla's nesting-tree, where the fisher-
man was feasted on ripe bananas, berries, and nuts,
and juicy roots, and he was shown wrhich roots
and berries were sweet, and which were bitter, and
so great was the variety of food he saw, that he
came to know that though lost in the forest a wise
man need not starve.

When the fisherman returned to his village he
called the elders together, and he laid the whole
story of his adventures before his people, and
when the elders heard that the berries and roots,

A HOSPITABLE GORILLA 319

nuts, and mushrooms in the forest, of which they
had hitherto been afraid, were sweet and whole-
some, they exclaimed with one voice, that the
gorillas had proved themselves true friends, and
had given them much useful knowledge ; and it
was agreed among them that in future the gorillas
should be reckoned anions: those, against whom it
would not be lawful to raise their spears.

Ever since the tribes on the Black River avoid
harming the gorilla, and all his kind big and little ;
neither will any of the gorilla trespass on their
plantations, or molest any of the people.

NEW AND STANDARD

BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
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MR. SETON'S FAMOUS ANIMAL BOOKS

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THE STORY OF THE CHAMPIONS OF
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FAIRIES AND FOLK OF IRELAND

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THE COURT OF KING ARTHUR

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